Sheffield theatre celebrates animal rights protesters' story in new audio drama

Humane is a new six-part drama that looks at how a group of women from rural Essex took on an increasingly brutal police presence and the agricultural industry to become remarkable activists, protesting the cruel conditions of livestock

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The cast features Dr Who star Louise Jameson, Marcia Lecky (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time), Francesca Isherwood (The Worst Witch, The Catherine Tate Show) and Graham Seed (The Archers, Coronation Street).

In 1995, lorries thundered through a small port town carrying live animals in horrendous conditions and a motley crew of grandmothers, housewives and school students took to the streets in a series of demonstrations.

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Humane sheds light on the story of a small community, their struggle for justice and the unshakeable friendships they made during the Battle of Brightlingsea.

Writer Polly Creed, whose work as an activist has been featured by The Guilty Feminist podcast and the Tate Modern in London, said that the story is also an urgent call to us to think about where our food comes from.

She added: “Coming out of lockdown, this story could not be more timely or more urgent. There are such strong, contemporary connections.”

The audio series is being serialised with episodes released on a weekly basis. They are being digitally hosted by a range of venues and the Theatre Deli episode’s release date is May 25.

Episodes are free to download and will be available on major podcast platforms including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Breaker, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts and Radio Public.

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