Animal (NHB Modern Plays)

By Jon Bradfield and Josh Hepple

David is gay, disabled and profoundly horny. He can't eat, drink or shower by himself – or wank. Totally inexperienced, he embarks on a sexual and romantic odyssey, armed with a fierce brain, and dick pics that he has to get someone to take.
Can he keep it casual whilst also relying on round-the-clock care? And will he manage the thrill and uncertainty of random hook-ups after a lifetime of knockbacks?
Animal is a hilarious, challenging and heartbreaking play by Jon Bradfield, from a story by Bradfield and Josh Hepple. It won the inaugural Through the Mill Playwriting Prize, was shortlisted for the Papatango Prize, and was first performed at the Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester, and Park Theatre, London, in 2023.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nick Hern Books
• Release date: Mar 16, 2023
• ISBN: 9781788506458

Jon Bradfield

Jon Bradfield is a playwright, theatre marketer and graphic designer. His plays include: Animal, co-written with Josh Hepple (Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester/Park Theatre London, 2023); and A Hard Rain, co-written with Martin Hooper (Above the Stag Theatre, 2014). Other work includes several adult pantomimes for Above The Stag Theatre, co-written with Martin Hooper; a contribution to Queers (Old Vic and BBC Four, 2017); and several sketches for the long-running News Revue at the Canal Cafe Theatre.

Book preview

Scene: David vs the Autosuck

DAVID’s living room, late afternoon or early evening.

A small ground-floor flat, level access throughout. In the room: desk and computer. TV. Sofa, perhaps it’s a sofa-bed. Door out to hallway. Another door to a small kitchen. Window to garden or street. A movie poster on the wall: Call Me By Your Name, perhaps.

DAVID sits in his wheelchair. On the desk next to him is the ‘Autosuck’ sex toy, though we needn’t notice it at first, or realise what it is. He’s on hold on his phone which is nestled between his thighs on the seat of the wheelchair. It’s on speakerphone. The hold music is classical and a message plays on loop: ‘Thank you for holding. We’ll connect you to the next available operator. Calls are recorded for training