The Playgoer: Press Release of the Day

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Thursday, July 07, 2011

Press Release of the Day

"The dead rabbits used for the performances in Britain were part of a scene illustrating the contrast between court and countryside, where life was harsher and people hunted and prepared their own food, and were sourced locally from game-keepers as part of a farming control program. The RSC and the RSPCA (UK equivalent of the ASPCA) were satisfied that the rabbits used in the British performances were sourced responsibly and killed humanely. It has not been possible to source rabbits in the same way in New York."

-Royal Shakespeare Company, bowing to New Yorkers' objections over the onstage skinning of actual dead rabbits in their current tour of As You Like It .

As they are in New York City, though, they may want to call upon these Dead Rabbits.

2 comments:

Scott Walters said...

Sheesh. You know, killing your own food (even in a play) is more metally healthy than the way we do it in America, where people think that meat just magically appears all cut up and wrapped in cellophane. People eat things, things eat other things -- it's called a food chain. Deal with it. (p.s. my word verification is "splatte."

cgeye said...

You're being disingenuous. You sure those rabbits fed anyone, or were they tossed out because actors touching them meant they couldn't comply with local food standards.

They were killed in the UK for pest reduction, but in the US for performance. That's an ethical difference even a carnivore should appreciate.