In the summer of 2025, Ruth Stage expanded beyond New York City and established its residency at the Jersey Shore Arts Center in iconic Asbury Park, New Jersey; a bold next chapter for the company’s continued growth. With rare permission from the Edward Albee Estate, Ruth Stage was granted the rights to perform The Zoo Story, Edward Albee’s explosive two-hander that helped redefine American theater. Set on a quiet Sunday afternoon in Central Park, the play follows Peter, a reserved publishing executive, whose peaceful solitude is shattered by the volatile and lonely Jerry, a stranger whose desperate need for connection spirals into confrontation, revelation, and shocking violence.

Matt de Rogatis and three-time Emmy winner Christian Jules LeBlanc reunited in a blazing, psychologically charged interpretation that gripped Asbury audiences over a three-night run. Under the sharp and electrifying direction of Theo Devaney, the production played before hundreds of theatergoers, with the sophisticated Asbury Park crowd responding enthusiastically to the raw intensity of Albee’s masterpiece. Despite its limited engagement, the production generated outsized media attention. The Zoo Story earned television coverage on CBS and WPIX and appeared on billboards throughout Monmouth County, New Jersey. This razor sharp production proved that Ruth Stage is not only a New York City powerhouse, but a growing cultural force at the Jersey Shore as well.