Imago Theatre’s current production, ZooZoo is an easy concept to understand: It's movement work. Dancers in animal costumes cavort in ways that both call in actual animal movements and human characteristics given to animal forms.

At the same time, when one watches the show, ZooZoo feels like a marvelous puzzle. What genre is this? How should we describe it? The wordless two-act collection of about a dozen short, intensely physical sketches—is it circus? Is this mime? Clown? Dance?

Co-director Jerry Mouawad acknowledges that all these elements are present in the show; he calls it “physical mask comedy.” And although many members of the audience are—and have been—parents with their children, this is not purely or even primarily a kids’ show.

ZooZoo contains no through-line or plot. It's pure physical theater. Each sketch lasts perhaps five to 10 minutes, and incorporates one to four performers. Only at the very end do we see their human faces. 

The staging is high and bare, presented with only minimal props, like a bed, a couple of chairs, or a mat. The show opens in silence and darkness, with a small swarm of luminescent eyes; they roll and dance against a dark backdrop, tumbling, meeting, and separating. They're winking at us. This sets the tone.

Two hippopotamuses share a bed. They try to get along, but can’t overcome the relentless attacks of gravity, space, and sleeplessness. Adults will at once recognize an insomniac's battle for the blankets, but kids will laugh when the hippos hit the floor. Despite being served food at a table, dapper anteaters locate their special diet on the floor, and among the audience. In a more understated but nonetheless mystifying scene, a paper bag levitates without wires. The full complement of four actors become polar bears and explore.

In the second act, the sketches became more abstract. A larva performs acrobatics. Penguins play a vicious game of musical chairs. A mass of paper becomes an ocean, and from its depths four lithe but silent actors emerge.

ZooZoo is a unique and precious local gem. Some 30-50 actors have performed in Imago’s worldwide tours of the show (and Frogz, which is more frog-oriented). At least two—Laura Loy and Kaician Kitko—of the current performing group have been with this show for more than 10 years.

And while this kind of performance isn't common in Portland, that doesn't mean it's experimental. Use of mask, mime, and circus arts is actually an established form of theater. This particular show continues the tradition of Jacques LeCoq’s International School of Theater in Paris, where co-director Carol Triffle studied in the late 1970s, until she and Jerry Mouawad formed Imago Theatre in 1982. This mask- and body-movement style, which was itself a continuation of the commedia dell’ arte of 16th-century Europe, created ripple effects throughout physical theater. ZooZoo is a perfect example of its modern incarnation. 

Mouawad noted that sketches are created on the bare stage, and he and the performers work to "find the opening" that lets a character—even an imaginary one—come out into the final production. He estimates that some 20 hours of stage work go into creating the sketches for a two hour show.

There will be many who have no problem sitting back and allowing themselves to feel amazed at the antics onstage, but if you're searching for a way in, we recommend consciously trying to let go—of meaning, plot, or story in ZooZoo. There isn’t one. We can enjoy the creation of space, time, and character by observing the smallest movement. Our kids will love this, of course, but we will, too. It is no chore to come to this show and to bring your kids, and we recommend it.

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ZooZoo plays at Imago Theatre, 17 SE 8th, through Sun Jan 4, $37.50, youth rate tickets available, showtimes and info at imagotheatre.com, approximately 2 hours with intermission, recommended for ages four and up.