Andy Serkis Expressively Reads a Defiant 1929 Letter From a Chimpanzee to an Offending Scientist

The inimitable Andy Serkis took on the persona of an ape, perhaps even that of Caesar from The Planet of the Apes, and read a defiant letter “written” in 1929 by Consul Junior, a famously intelligent chimpanzee who was living at Regent’s Park Zoo, to the London Daily News.

It appears that the ape was quite disturbed and insulted by a comment made by Dr. Edward Bach in response to scientist Serge Voronoff’s implantation of monkey glands into human beings, specifically that the human would take on the worst attributes of the simian.

Prior to Dr. Voronoff’s arrival, an article appeared in the London Daily News in which eminent bacteriologist Dr. Edward Bach warned the public against the aforementioned “monkey-gland grafting,” not because it was a terrifying con, but because it may cause the patient to take on the chimp’s “worst” characteristics. Shortly after Bach’s warning, the following letter appeared in the same newspaper, signed by “Consul Junior,” a famous chimp at London Zoo.

The letter was actually written by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, who was known for his biting, critical humor over current events.

It had in fact been written by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw.

This reading was performed during a Letters Live event in 2019 at Union Chapel in London.