Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.
Animals  By  cover art

Animals

By: Stacy Osei-Kuffour
Narrated by: William Jackson Harper, Jason Butler Harner, Madeline Brewer, Aja Naomi King
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $7.95

Buy for $7.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Lydia (Aja Naomi King) and Henry (Jason Butler Harner)’s dinner guests (Madeline Brewer and William Jackson Harper) are about to arrive when Henry’s spontaneous marriage proposal threatens to burn the evening to a crisp. Wine bottles and years of unspoken tensions are uncorked, and before the evening is through, Lydia must confront her long-held fears and feelings if she’s going to commit to a future with Henry.

Directed by Whitney White, Stacy Osei-Kuffour’s world premiere comedy marches into the muddy intersection of romantic entanglement, identity, pride, and survival.

Please Note: Animals contains adult language. 

©2020 Stacy Osei-Kuffour (P)2020 AO Media LLC

Go Behind the Scenes of Animals

0:00

About the Creator

Stacy Osei-Kuffour is an accomplished playwright and television writer. She was most recently Supervising Producer on The Morning Show and previously wrote on Pheobe Waller-Bridge’s series Run (HBO), The Power (Amazon), Watchmen (HBO), and the upcoming series The Hunt (Amazon) produced by Jordan Peele. Stacy also wrote for the comedy series PEN15 (Hulu) and received an Emmy nomination for her work on the episode "Anna Ishii-Peters." Stacy grew up in Chicago and received her BFA from NYU and her MFA in playwriting from Hunter College.

About the Director

Whitney White is an Obie Award and Lily Award-winning director, writer, and musician originally from Chicago. She is a believer in alternative forms of performance, multi-disciplinary work, and collaborative processes. She is a recipient of the Susan Stroman Directing Award, is part of the Rolex Protegé and Mentorship Arts Initiative, and is Associate Director at Shakespeare Theatre Company and Associate Artist at The Roundabout. Her directing includes The Amen Corner (Shakespeare Theatre Company), Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (WP Theatre and Second Stage, NYT Critic’s Pick), Aleshea Harris’ What to Send Up When it Goes Down (The Movement Theatre Company, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, American Repertory Theatre, The Public Theater, NYT Critic’s Pick), An Iliad (Long Wharf), Canyon by Jonathan Caren ( LA Times Critic’s Choice and recipient of the CTG Block Party Grant, IAMA), Jump by Charly Evon Simpson (National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere, PlayMakers Rep). Her digital projects include What is Left, Burns by James Ijames (Steppenwolf), Finish the Fight by Ming Peiffer (the New York Times, 30K+ viewers), Animals by Stacy Osei-Kuffour (Williamstown Theatre and Audible), and Soft Light by Aleshea Harris (The Movement Theatre Company). Her original musical Definition will debut at the Bushwick Starr in 2021 and her five-part cycle deconstructing Shakespeare’s women and female ambition is currently in development with American Repertory Theater (Boston, MA). Her past residencies and fellowships include Sundance Theatre Lab, Colt Coeur, The Drama League, Roundabout Theatre Company, and the 2050 Fellowship at the New York Theatre Workshop. White received her MFA in Acting at Brown University/Trinity Rep and her BA at Northwestern University.

Featuring

Also Featuring

What listeners say about Animals

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    238
  • 4 Stars
    98
  • 3 Stars
    59
  • 2 Stars
    34
  • 1 Stars
    35
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    285
  • 4 Stars
    68
  • 3 Stars
    33
  • 2 Stars
    11
  • 1 Stars
    22
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    209
  • 4 Stars
    77
  • 3 Stars
    58
  • 2 Stars
    26
  • 1 Stars
    46

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

So much swearing!!!

Overall, I enjoyed this but there were so much swearing. It was like the characters couldn't go one sentence without swearing. Do people really talk like this to each other? The swearing felt a little overwhelming to hear at times.

The plot escalated fast and the drama felt too much at times.

It also left me a little confused at times. I got the sense that two of the four characters are exes but at times, they didn't feel like friends to me. I am guessing this is why the play is called "Animals"???

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

This was an ugly listen

I get what the author was striving to do here, especially in light of the heightened attention in 2020 to America’s disgusting racism. I perceive the issues she was seeking to highlight: microaggressions, white saviour complex, nepotism, gentrification, white mediocrity and the way they’re granted advancement due to privilege and not earning such, colonialism, hegemonic ideology, misogynoirism, systemic injustices, white inheritance of wealth and Black exclusion from access, etc., but this story was pedantic, unpleasant, gratuitous, poorly illustrative, and imbued with stereotypes even while it was seeking to undermine such.

I could not finish listening to this production, and this will be my first and last time engaging with anything this author produces.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

off-putting and crude

this was just not enjoyable. it felt more like bad reality tv that anything approaching real relationships that are worth exploring. and the constant swearing is incredibly distracting.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Real life

I felt everything in this production. This is real life and not the regular pretend fairy tales we get.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Eye opening

What I liked about this piece were the uncomfortable conversations about race, sex, and politics. Because I believe these things need to be talked about. I love how Lydia was an extremely messy character with her own doubts and her own insecurities and how she portrayed a woman who is ready to go full force into a marriage, knowing that she did not absolutely love Henry. I also loved how both of the couples were interracial and both couples had representation from different age ranges.

What I didn’t like or appreciate as much about this particular story is the constant arguing and digs that the characters made at each other. Even though I understand it was a part of the atmosphere of the story, it got old very fast. But I also think that a lot of people can resonate with the story simply because that is how some people behave.

Would definitely recommend.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Real and raw

This play is so real. Very worth the time. Would like to see it live.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Story!

The characters were so real! This is the story of Lydia and how she struggles to come to terms with decisions and circumstances from her past. Even when the characters are way off base in terms of what they say, you smile and shake your head because what they say sounds like someone we know, someone we've met or even someone we've been at some point on our own journey!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Enjoyed Animals greatly

I was surprised initially at the relationship squabbles, tension, up and down quickly. The afterwards with producer was helpful snd interesting to me, although another reviewer hated it. The post discussion helped me understand how the character of Lydia was meant to be, and that she was entering “self awareness “
The actors were talented, and the entire production kept interest

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Simply cathartic

Wow! The actors and the writing were all amazing. Chidi from The Good Place plays Jason/Yao! I really felt like I was at the edge of my seat, watching this unfold, or more like being the neighbor who gets to hear every little thing because of the thin walls and wondering at times if you should intervene before someone got hurt. While I am not necessarily a fan of strong language/cursing (there's a lot!), I appreciate that it really serves to showcase the level of comfort everyone has with each other, after so many years (I know I can't be the only who is less nice to my husband now than I was when we dated). Race and politics were approached wonderfully, with nuance, and the dialog with the writer and director at the end was also interesting to have.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • A
  • 02-25-21

Bravo Bravo

What an interesting roller coaster ride! So many emotions & very thought provoking dialogue. Not your usual mindless banter. Well worth it. Looking forward to listening to part 2!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful