Jack who is Roy in Penguins chats to me about the play which is inspired by a true story reported in the 2004 New York Times and touched hearts worldwide. Roy and Silo two male penguins in Central Park Zoo in 1998 were given an egg to hatch together and developed into a beautiful female baby called Tango who herself formed a same-sex relationship with another female penguin. The story inspired a book called ‘And Tango Makes Three” published by Simon & Schuster was controversial at the time and at the center of numerous censorship and culture war debates on same-sex marriage, adoption, and homosexuality in animals and now deals with contemporary issues such as the nature of family, family structure, homosexuality, animal and human freedom and individuality in general. Penguins is both entertaining and educational and is full of wonderful surprises.

Three tracks are featured from the performance by composer Garth McConaghie which form part of one work called ‘Ice Carvings‘