Donkeyland: a rehearsed reading of a new play

Ari is a young donkey who identifies as human: she spurs the company of other donkeys, wishing instead that she were human. Donkeyland is a one-woman show that explores themes of identity, self-determination and the exploitative relationship between humankind and animals. It is a loose appropriation of Shakespeare's The Tempest, where characters akin to Ariel and Caliban are donkeys, and are owned by two human characters inspired by Shakespeare’s Prospero and Miranda. The play aims to achieve two things: to rethink Shakespeare's play from both a Welsh and an eco-centred perspective. It places The Tempest's archetypal characters within the context of postcolonial Wales; and equally, in focusing on the relationship between humans and animals, the play also considers the broader, ecological concern of how humans continue to colonise nature. The play is still in its development stage: this rehearsed reading is the play's first public performance.