Paul Ready Makes Playwriting Debut at Edinburgh Fringe With Climate Monologue Little Animals
Paul Ready has written his first play. Little Animals, an hour-long monologue staged at the Edinburgh Fringe, marks the actor's playwriting debut and is running as part of the Traverse Theatre's TravFest26 programme from Tuesday 18 to Sunday 30 August (The Guardian).
The show is staged in the round in the Lyceum Theatre's studio space — the Traverse at the Lyceum Studio — with no props and no set (What's On Stage). Ready performs it alone. The runtime is 1 hour 10 minutes, with an age guide of 14+ (Traverse Theatre).
The play is a meditation on the impact of climate change, told through the life of Ready's best friend Richard, who recently died by drowning (What's On Stage). On stage, Ready's unnamed character works in finance while Richard worked in conservation. The Traverse describes the show as "frank, funny and inventive" — a one-man piece about climate anxiety, the stories we tell ourselves, and the chance to write a new one (Edinburgh Fringe; Traverse Theatre).
Caroline Steinbeis directs, with Gabriella Bird as associate director. Fern Culture co-produces (Instagram/@traverse theatre). Tickets at the Lyceum Studio cost between £5.50 and £25.50 (Traverse Theatre).
What's On Stage awarded the production two stars, with criticism directed at Ready's delivery (What's On Stage). The review does not constitute a verdict on the show's run — audiences at the Fringe will make that call themselves through August.
For those unfamiliar with the setup: the Edinburgh Fringe, held every August, is the world's largest arts festival, where thousands of shows run across hundreds of venues over three weeks. The Traverse Theatre, Scotland's dedicated new-writing house, programmes its own curated strand — TravFest — each year, bringing new work into festival venues. A "show in the round" means the audience surrounds the performer on all sides, with no traditional stage backdrop.
Little Animals runs in a venue with no set, performed by one man, about one friend. The booking window closes 30 August.
