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Little Animals

Traverse @ Lyceum Studio

Four stars

 

Paul Ready’s new solo work ends as it begins, as a talking point concerning a matter of life and death. With the audience sat in a circle in the harsh light of the Lyceum rehearsal room, Ready stands at the centre, his unnamed character dressed in a city boy suit that belies his gentle delivery. He could be about to do a TED talk or some ghastly presentation illustrated with slides and whatever the digital equivalent of flip charts might be. As it is, as he paces, he is preparing to give a eulogy to his best friend Richard, who died drowning. 

 

As we are told, Ready’s character and Richard had been inseparable ever since they were kids, and if things had turned out differently, they would have likely seen out their dotage together. Somewhere along the way, however, the world changed, and what for Ready’s character was a life of aspiration and acquisition, for Richard became one of opposition as he tried to save the planet. With moral certitude on his side, whatever his righteous battles, in the end he ended up consumed by all he wished to preserve. 

 

What emerges from Ready over the 70 minutes of Caroline Steinbeis’ production is a near perfect encapsulation of all the everyday conflicts and contradictions that exist in concerns regarding the environment. Ready’s character and Richard are two sides of the same first world coin, one man seemingly untouched by the effects of environmental irresponsibility, the other obsessed with the changes enough for it to destroy him. 

 

Led by the new Fern Culture organisation, there are no heroes here. The wheeler-dealer and the activist are ordinary enough to both be recognisable from Ready’s understated, matter of fact delivery. The question of how you continue to function in a world driven by money, and where the natural world is being destroyed, is a big one, especially when most people are busy simply trying to get by. As Ready’s characters take the plunge, one way or another, that really is a matter of life and death. 

 

Until Aug 30 


The Herald, August 21, 2026

 

ends

 

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