“The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity” to Premiere at Climate Week NYC on Sept. 23rd, Exploring Interfaith Environmentalism and the Animal Rights Movement
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 10, 2024
Contacts:
Grant Wilson, gwilson@earthlaw.org
Ciara Shea, cshea@earthlaw.org
Heather Robertson, hrobertson@earthlaw.org
New York, NY, September 23, 2024 – During the 2024 Climate Week NYC, Earth Law Center will host a live reading of the 1,000-year-old story “The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity” at the AIA New York Center for Architecture. The play, which follows a group of animals who take humans to court for their poor treatment, alludes to the work of Earth Law Center and the broader Rights of Nature movement in ingraining the rights of animals and other natural entities into law.
Although its roots trace to India, Muslim scholars of a Sufi order in Iraq first wrote the story in the 10th century CE. Later, in the 14th century, the Christian king of Anjou ordered Rabbi Kalonymus ben Kalonymus to translate the Arabic version into Hebrew and Latin, and it has long been an important tale in Muslim and Jewish communities. Rabbi Anson Laytner and Rabbi Dan Bridge translated and adapted the story from Hebrew into English back in 2005. The theatrical reading of “The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity” at Climate Week will be the official debut of Laytner’s adaptation of the story into a play.
Laytner and Bridge’s translation has been hailed by luminaries across religious traditions. The Islamic philosopher Seyd Hossein Nassar called it a “fascinating story of enduring spiritual worth and great current significance.” It has already made its way to schools in England, music festivals in Singapore, and more. Laytner also made it the focus of his recent novel, “The Forgotten Commandment.”
Rabbi Anson Laytner
Rabbi Laytner will speak at the theatrical reading during Climate Week. He celebrates the play’s interfaith approach to environmentalism, saying, “The message of this tale is shockingly contemporary, but equally surprising is its interfaith history which shows that the Abrahamic faiths all have strong teachings about how to care for other living things.”
Although “The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity” is an ancient tale, its themes are especially valuable in light of the current ecological crisis, and speak to the ways in which legal systems can be used to enact rights for animals and ecosystems. In the play, humans move to an island previously inhabited only by animals and begin to exploit the animals for their own gain. Upset by their exploitation, the animals appeal to the King of the Jinn, who oversees a trial between the humans and animals. The trial itself is the focus of the play, as animals lament the human disregard for animal life, proclaiming, “There we are in the marketplace, being chopped up and sold, and that’s us! That’s our bodies, that’s our babies!” On the other side, some of the play’s humans argue that animals are rightless entities ripe for unfettered human use, while other humans, who could be described as environmentalists, align with the animals’ arguments.
ELC Executive Director Grant Wilson
Speaking to the conflict between animal rights and human exploitation, Grant Wilson, Executive Director of Earth Law Center (ELC), describes the relevance of “The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity” to modern ecocentrism: “This ancient fable, over a thousand years old, mirrors the stark injustices that animals still face today: being treated as mere property and inferior to humans, both culturally and legally, with no formal rights of their own. In truth, humans are merely one small element in the vast, interconnected web of life. It’s time for our society and laws to recognize this reality.”
As the sponsor of the theatrical reading of “The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity,” ELC has played a notable role in enshrining the Rights of Nature and animal rights across the globe. Focused particularly on animal rights, along with its partner organization, The Leatherback Project, ELC urged the creation of a national law in Panama protecting sea turtles, which was passed in 2023. In the U.S., ELC and partners have advocated for the rights of rivers, forests, and Southern Resident Orcas, amongst others. There are countless related campaigns globally.
Reflecting on this, Squil-le-he-le/Raynell Morris, a Lummi Nation elder, shared her wisdom on the kinship between humans and the natural world: “Everything in creation is our brother and sister. We have to respect everything and give thanks to everything—the winged, the finned, the four-legged, and the two-legged—because they are our relatives.” Morris has long fought for protecting the Southern Resident Orcas based on this kinship relationship, viewing them as “relatives under the sea” and rights holders. She will serve as a panelist after the reading.
ELC’s work is part of a broader global movement to advance the Rights of Nature and the rights of specific animals. In 2008, Ecuador was the first country to add a Rights of Nature amendment to its constitution, and since then, Bolivia, Panama, Spain, Uganda, and others have also enshrined the Rights of Nature into national laws. In 2024, Teresa Vicente won a Goldman Environmental Prize for her work giving legal rights to the Mar Menor salt water lagoon in Spain. “The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity” captures the historical precedent for the broader Rights of Nature and animal rights movements.
The play “mirrors the efforts of advocates across the world to recognize and defend the rights of ecosystems and species based on the reality that all life has a right to exist,” says Wilson. “Many of the arguments that the animals make in the play are the same ones made by ‘Earth lawyers’ in the courts today as they seek to create legal frameworks that represent all life, not only humans.”
Lotus Kay, one of the actors, is a 23-year-old singer-songwriter and author of a children’s book series aimed at educating kids about wildlife and promoting kindness towards the Earth. She said, “This story powerfully conveys the unfair way we view and treat animals, and the important message that animals and Nature should have rights—a perspective increasingly prevalent amongst youth. It is also wonderful to partner with an organization like the Earth Law Center, whose real work is representing the Earth and animals, who don’t have their own voice.”
“The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity” will be produced by Liv Boren and Chris Dooly of Jack & Grace Productions and will be performed on September 23 at Climate Week NYC. Liv and Chris were drawn to this project because, “at a time when the natural world is under threat, there is power and wisdom in the tales of our past. J&G is thrilled to bring this show to life with Earth Law Center at Climate Week NYC, where we have the potential to reach young minds and foster real, long-lasting change.”
To register to attend, please follow this link and consider a $30 recommended donation to support ELC’s work, with a VIP ticket costing $100. Following the theatrical reading, there will be a panel with environmental leaders exploring the play’s applicability to modern-day legal movements and challenges, including the treatment of animals through factory farming.
The reading and panel will also be livestreamed (with watch parties) for those who would like to attend remotely.
Actors Include:
Chris Dooly, Narrator
Lotus Kay, Donkey
Keith Randolph Smith, General Havok
Lee Wilkof, Ox, King Bersaf, Chef Orotundo, Phoenix, Parrot, Fly, King Snake, Frog
Erin Neufer, Horse, Zoey Phile, Falcon, Wasp, Pig, Ima Phud, Snow Leopard
Raquel Chavez, Sheep, Queen Lion, Peacock, Queen Bee, Cricket, Priest
Panelists:
Karen Bradshaw, Professor of Law and Senior Sustainability Scientist Arizona State University
Lindsey Marie Coffey, model, environmentalist, and former Miss Earth
Squil-le-he-le/Raynell Morris, Events and Gatherings Producer, Children of the Setting Sun Productions
Zehra Abbas, EcoMuslim Alliance
Introduction from:
Grant Wilson, Executive Director, Earth Law Center
Anson Laytner, Script writer and author
