In January 2026, as the winter winds whipped through the Jersey Shore, Ruth Stage returned to Asbury Park with a blazing follow-up to its celebrated Zoo Story. Inside the Jersey Shore Arts Center, the temperature rose as the Edward Albee Estate once again granted rare permission for Ruth Stage to present At Home at the Zoo; Albee’s expanded version of The Zoo Story, incorporating the haunting prequel Homelife. The complete evening begins in Peter’s Upper East Side apartment, where his brittle marriage to Anne fractures in a revealing and darkly intimate confrontation, before carrying him to Central Park for his fateful encounter with Jerry - deepening the psychological stakes and exposing the quiet desperation simmering beneath domestic routine.
For this jam packed, three-night-only engagement, Christian Jules LeBlanc and Matt de Rogatis reprised their roles as Peter and Jerry, this time joined by ten-time Broadway veteran Nancy Lemenager, known for iconic productions such as Chicago, as Anne. Under the taut and incisive creative vision of director Theo Devaney, the performances were even more layered, volatile, and emotionally devastating than the summer run, with Asbury audiences riveted from the first line to the final silence. When the final bow landed, it was unmistakable: for all its New York triumphs, Ruth Stage had firmly planted its flag in the Asbury arts scene, proving its expansion was not a visit - but an arrival.
