From Cape Town to York: 'Unruly' Sparks LCAB Dialogue on Human-Animal Relations

News

Posted on Wednesday 11 March 2026

The powerful South African play 'Unruly' came to LCAB on 26 February 2026.

The play was presented by Dr. Johan Enqvist (Stockholm Resilience Centre and Stellenbosch University) as part of the Unruly Natures collaboration between researchers and the Empatheatre theatre company.

This critically acclaimed play follows events in a fictional village near Cape Town, South Africa, after the matriarch of the local baboon troop vanishes. Starring Andrew Buckland, a well-known South African theatre and film actor, with double bassist Chantal Willie-Petersen, this production uses humour, emotion, physical theatre, and live music to explore human-animal relations and the human and nonhuman community personalities and tensions in the beauty and tragedy that come with coexistence.

Following the film, Johan joined a panel discussion with LCAB and the Department of Environment and Geography’s Dr Hanna Pettersson and Dr Felicia Liu on the wildlife conflict and artistic dimensions of the work, and took questions from the diverse audience of LCAB and other members of the university community. Hanna’s expertise is in human-wildlife conflict and Felicia explores the role of art in environmental activism. The talk and panel were moderated by LCAB’s Dr Christopher Lyon.

The conversation continued over lunch, with LCAB doctoral students, postdocs, and staff engaging in a lengthy and passionate dialogue about the research, role of art, and broader implications for human-wildlife interactions.

The PhD students, postdocs and staff really liked the play, especially in the way it was able to present complex ideas in ways that were emotionally and intellectually compelling. Several said afterward that Buckland’s performance was so compelling that it took them a while to work out this was a play and not an autobiographical telling of real events!

The play showcases the role of the creative arts in communicating the subtleties of complex and challenging social-ecological research in meaningful and memorable ways.