Anna Burnside reviews a thoughtful production.
Paul Ready, an actor who makes his living from being humble and self-effacing on the likes of Motherland and Ann Droid, is centre stage at a memorial for his friend Richard.
He acknowledges that we didn’t know Richard yet continues to tell the story of his childhood friend, fearlessly anti-establishment since grammar school, who has drowned in the Thames.
As a 17-year-old he tells the ambitious Ready, heading off to Durham University, we’re all just animals. In his city suit and tie, Ready’s unnamed character posits himself as the realist, the compromiser, while Richard chose to opt out and devote himself to campaigning against climate change.
Their lives bifurcate and Ready’s character carbon offsets his thrice-yearly holidays. He stresses the importance of the stories we tell ourselves as he frames himself as the sensible husband, father, city financier. He does, after all, recycle.
It is notoriously difficult to make compelling work about the climate emergency, and Ready’s playwriting debut takes a thoughtful route in. Looking at activism through the eyes of a well-meaning Waitrose shopper exposes the gap between the scale of the crisis and the mainstream response.
By making the story so personal, Ready exposes the faultlines in concerned middle-class thinking. His character feels guilty about Richard’s death because he is smart enough to know that he’s right. It’s not a new point but it’s a crucial one, and Ready does a great job of making it.
Little Animals is part of this year’s Traverse Theatre Fringe programme and performs at The Lyceum Studio until 30 August 2026. For further details, go to the venue’s website.
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