Lynn Kavanagh

Performance, 2021, Grantee Link >

Lynn Kavanagh works as a Campaign Manager for World Animal Protection. She received a grant for “Pig Trial,” a project that will create a “verbatim” or “documentary” play based on the 2017 “pig trial”—the case of Anita Kranjc, who received CAF grants in 2012 and 2013, and who was charged with (and ultimately acquitted of) criminal mischief for giving water to pigs in a transport truck on their way to slaughter in Toronto, Canada. Lynn writes:

The intent with this project is to create an engaging and moving piece of theatre that encourages the audience to ask questions about the place of animals in our society, their role in upholding the status quo where animals are commodified, and to ultimately change the way they think about animals, for the better. A powerful piece of theatre, like a moving story, book, or movie, will stay with its audience long after the story or show is over, will create conversations, and encourage dialogue, moving towards the social change that is hoped for and desired.

In constructing the text, Lynn interviewed nine “key informants,” gathered trial transcripts and journal articles, as well as material that inspired Anita herself, such as Tolstoy’s essay “The First Step” and The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. The work on the project is ongoing.