The Animals Come to the Table
Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
- Opens: Friday, 11 December 2026 -
Booking until: Sunday, 24 January 2027
The Animals Come to the Table description
What would happen if nature grabbed the mic?
The world premiere of a bold new play from one of the UK’s leading playwrights, Timberlake Wertenbaker (Our Country’s Good), written for the candlelit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.
The lights go out.
The animals arrive.
And humanity is summoned to the negotiating table.
A negotiator and an interpreter are called to a secret emergency meeting. Waiting for them are a chicken, a rat, a snow leopard and an army of voices from the natural world demanding an end to exploitation and ecological destruction.
Funny, furious and unsettling, The Animals Come to the Table imagines the moment the earth finally answers back.
The world premiere of a bold new play from one of the UK’s leading playwrights, whose works including Our Country’s Good, Jefferson’s Garden, The Love of the Nightingale and Little Brother are studied and performed worldwide. Bringing together politics, wit, philosophy and mischief, this new work is an audacious experiment of stepping into someone else’s shoes.
BSL Interpreted:
- Friday, 22nd January, 2:00pm
- Saturday, 23rd January, 7:30pm
Relaxed:
- Friday, 8th January, 7:30pm
- Sunday, 17th January, 1:00pm
Captioned:
- Monday, 4th January, 7:30pm
- Saturday, 23rd January, 7:30pm
Audio Described:
- Sunday, 17th January, 6:30pm
Playing at Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
Age restrictions
All under 16s must be accompanied by an adult, and cannot be sat separately.
Important information
This play contains references to sexual violence.