Animals on stage – should we allow it?

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2014/sep/15/theatre-animals-on-stage-should-we-allow-it

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In Charles Spencer's review of The Two Gentlemen of Verona at the RSC in Stratford this summer, the dog playing Crab, Launce's mutt, was singled out for particular praise. It's not uncommon for animals to grab both critical and audience attention. Dogs that play Toto in The Wizard of Oz end up lavished with rave reviews; some people couldn't decide whether they preferred Helen Mirren's performance in The Audience or that of the dogs playing the royal corgis. When one of them got the sack it made the news.

There are an awful lot of animals around on stage. Some artists, including Victoria Melody, have even made shows in which their beloved pets perform alongside them. Many radical theatre-makers, from Chris Goode to Richard Gregory of Quarantine and David Harradine, have joined artists including Romeo Castellucci and Pina Bausch in using animals on stage. But the questions are, does the animal really want to be there, what choice does it have and what are the ethics of using animals on stage? Many of us – myself included – will ooh and ahh over a dog playing Crab in the theatre, but wouldn't dream of going to see an animal performing in a circus, and would join others in protesting against such acts. Where should the line be drawn, or should it be drawn at all? How far is the representation of animals on stage one in which we often simply demonstrate our dominance over them and their lack of agency?

Last week, I saw a flock of sheep being herded down a Welsh hillside at the climax of the extraordinary The Gathering, a wonderful National Theatre Wales walking performance on Snowdon. They poured down the mountainside – which is, of course, what sheep do – but in this instance they were being herded in order to create a spectacle as part of the performance.

I wouldn't for a moment protest over their involvement, but not all uses of animals in performance can be seen as so benign. On Friday, it was reported in the Stage that the use of goldfish during Jamie Lloyd's revival of Richard III with Martin Freeman has been discontinued following a letter from Peta protesting at a scene in which Clarence is drowned in a tank containing the fish, which causes the water and sediment to be churned up. Lloyd – himself a vegan – said that he had taken expert advice to ensure the fishes' well-being but nonetheless decided to dispense with the fish following the accusation of animal cruelty. But what's interesting is that the show had been running for many weeks before anyone thought to protest. Presumably, for many watching, the goldfish were not perceived as living, breathing animals but only as part of the set.

In Theatre and Animals, part of Palgrave's fantastic Theatre& series, author Lourdes Orozco cites a performance called After Sun by the Spanish theatre-maker Roderigo Garcia at a theatre festival near Barcelona in 2001. Halfway through the performance, two live rabbits were produced from out of a box and an actor mimed sex acts with them. Around a third of the audience walked out in protest at the abuse of the animals, but most remained. In a subsequent scene, a hamburger was cooked on stage. There was not a single protest or walkout.

Orozco makes the point that "the spectators could not relate to the body of an animal that was no longer visible. The animal had become food, and that, somehow, seemed more acceptable than the mistreatment of live rabbits." In this instance, the performance pointed up the fact that eating potential cast members is generally considered far more acceptable than miming sex acts with them.

Clearly, our relationship with animals on stage and our perceptions around what is and is not acceptable do not operate in a vacuum but are a reflection of our relationship with animals in the wider world, where they are perceived in many different ways – from friend and companion, through cute image on Twitter to harnessed worker and food source. What do you think? Do animals have a place on stage or is a rethink about their appearance in all kinds of performance long overdue?