What The Animals Say
Finborough Theatre
29 Sep - 24 Oct 2026
Tue-Sat 19.30, Sat & Sun 15.00
About the show
Two ex-classmates wait for the Stranraer ferry back to Belfast…
Jimmy is a struggling actor chasing the break that never comes.
Eddie is a celebrity footballer who, despite being Protestant, is the captain of Celtic.
At first, they reconnect over football, Father Ted and the staunch Unionist culture they grew up in, but what begins as banter spirals into confrontation as buried resentments, betrayal and violence rise to the surface…
Provocative and hilarious, David Ireland’s explosive debut play is a portrait of two men trapped by the stories they tell themselves and each other.
First performed in 2009 at Òran Mór, Glasgow, as part of their legendary A Play, A Pie and A Pint season, and newly urgent in an era of renewed political tribalism and sectarianism, What the Animals Say is where it all began…
Harry Burton directs Robbie Martin and Matthew Blaney returning to the Finborough Theatre after his OffWestEnd Award nominated performance in David Ireland’s Not Now.
Previews (29 and 30 September) £17 all seats.
Week 1: Tickets £22, £20 concessions.
Weeks 2-3: Tickets £27, £25 concessions
Week 4: Tickets £31, £29 concessions
Group Bookings for all performances – 1 free ticket in every 10 purchased.
Group Rates
School Group Rates
NA
Workshops & more...
Theatre Workout recommends an acting or devising workshop, exploring performance techniques and key scenes from the play, to boost student's understanding of the production, theatre performance, and stagecraft.
Your Visit
Address:
Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Road, London, SW10 9ED
Map link:
Age recommendation:
tbc
Running time:
70 minutes, no interval
Additional Guidance:
tbc
Getting there:
The theatre is 5 minutes from Earl’s Court Underground Station (Zone 1, District and Piccadilly Lines).
From Earl’s Court underground station, leave the station by the Warwick Road exit (for Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre), turn left and we are five minutes walk straight up the road.
5 minutes from West Brompton Station (District Line and National Rail).
From West Brompton underground station, turn right from the station, walk past Brompton Cemetery and turn right into Finborough Road.
For the latest Travel News from Transport for London including closures for engineering works, please check with TFL.gov.
Contact Theatre Workout to arrange all your travel needs.
