London Zoo – Southwark Playhouse
London Zoo is set at the dawn of the Millenium, as print media faced the oncoming juggernaut of online content. Job losses and a decline in quality journalism came in its wake, except in a few rarified and fortunate corners. This play highlights the subtle ways in which prejudice, power and ambition are thinly veiled by passive aggressive marketing jargon, jokey office politics and the cold reality of number crunching.
As someone who left print media at the turn of the century and then worked for an online brand that expanded in the boom, I can attest to the accuracy of some of the vibes seen in this odd window onto that period. Much like this fictional news corporation, GAY.com, where I held the role of Editor, imploded due to rapid expansion, shareholder tyranny and phantom accountan...