ZOO tells the story of an encounter between three characters; a writer - the alter-ego of the author - who is fascinated and troubled by the figure of Edda Ciano, a gorilla and a vet. The play tells of the various encounters between these three characters, who gradually weave a complex web of relationships. While initially the writer encounters the gorilla for the sole purpose of writing about monkeys, the relationship between the two begins to become increasingly intense, finally transforming into a fascinating love story. As the story gradually develops under the clinical observation of the vet, the story between the gorilla and the writer assumes a passionate aspect that will lead them both into the irresistible realm of erotic desire, casting doubt over all certainties and distinctions between humans and animals, domesticated and wild, “civilised” and “barbaric”.
Sergio Blanco wrote the piece at the Paris zoo, actually spending time “alongside” a real gorilla. “I needed to be close to him in order to be able to write - he said -. Every time I went to visit him at the zoo, my heartbeat gradually increased as I got ever closer to the fence. As soon as the gorilla arrived, we would look at each other, exchange gestures, and then I gradually began to write. One day I realised that I wasn’t writing about him but for him, and this fascinated me. On another day, the vets explained to me that the animal’s heartbeat also quickened when he saw me approaching. At a certain point, I was forced to stay away for two weeks. When I returned, he appeared in front of me and he cried. I cried too. It was at that very moment that I understood we were both moving towards something unspeakable. The only thing I could do was to abandon myself, to dive into writing body and soul. And that is what I did”.