The feature details a friendship between two slaughterhouse employees played by Phillip John Jones and Shannon Smith, and the wider implications of their shared experience. The acting is exquisite and there are moments of joy, fear, anguish, turmoil, comedy, oneness and most of all, understanding the philosophical depth behind animal rights activism and the connection between human and animal oppression.

“I have nowhere else to go”, expresses one of the protagonists, as we are thrown into a tumultuous and violent reality, caused purely by the greed and ignorance of mainstream non-veganism. The play graphically and symbolically highlights how we as a society can evolve to save each other, the animals and the planet.

Blood on Your Hands at Southwark Playhouse also holds a sense of dimensionality, the presence of litres of blood is jarring, designed to help awaken meat eaters from their violent slumber. The melancholia, anxiety and drug dependency demonstrates clearly how the slaughterhouse workers suffer from PTSD from their jobs. The scoring is subversive and dark, tapping into an emotion that is rare in our censored society.

There are also moments of news footage and activism footage contextualising the zeitgeist setting which features empowering vegan voices NEO 10Y, Benjamin Zephaniah, Lucy Watson and more.

Producer Grace Joy Howarth and director Anastasia Bunce confess, “I hope that people can connect the world of animal agriculture to this very intimate story of friendship and hope, and the way humans connect at the darkest points.”

The production comes from the company behind Meat Cute (Edinburgh Fringe, VAULT Festival 2023) and Birdie’s Adventures in the Animal Kingdom (Greenhouse Theatre 2023, Harrow Arts Centre 2022).

As for the plot, it’s Ukrainian ex-veterinarian Kostyantyn’s first day at the slaughterhouse, where he meets Dan, a happy-go-lucky Welsh lad who cracks too many jokes for his own good. Despite their grim working conditions, an unexpected friendship begins to form. Meanwhile, Kostyantyn’s wife and daughters are home in Ukraine, and Dan’s activist ex-girlfriend won’t stop pestering him at work… Amidst bleak conditions, this is a tale of human strength, connection and hope. Will the two men save each other from slaughter?

Blood on Your Hands has been shortlisted and longlisted for national awards such as BBC Writersroom, the New Diorama Theatre Untapped Award, the Phoebe Frances Brown Award, the London Library Emerging Writers Programme, and the Masterclass Pitch Your Play award.

A reminder that no one is free until the animals are free, speciesism is the root of all oppression, animals deserve love and freedom. If you are already vegan, you can also look into how to optimise your communication as a vegan with Beyond Carnism, and if you aren’t vegan yet, you can look into transitioning with Challenge 22, and read Manifesting A Vegan Future with NEO 10Y.

The post Blood on Your Hands: Highlighting The Correlation Between Human and Animal Oppression appeared first on KIMU.