LIKE ANIMALS

“A quirky, thought-provoking two-hander” ★★★★ – The Telegraph

Inspired by true accounts of research scientists working to communicate with animals, Like Animals weaves stories of human-animal communication around an exploration into the real-life relationship of performers Kim Donohoe and Pete Lannon.

Every night, Alex the parrot and Irene the scientist bid one another farewell with ‘be good, see you tomorrow, I love you.’ As time marches on and their relationship deepens, Alex begins to use the language he has learned from Irene to manipulate her. Peter the dolphin lives in a flooded house with Margaret, who is teaching him English. Working together in a bizarre NASA-funded experiment, their relationship garners unwelcome attention in the press with headlines such as ‘The Woman who lived in sin with a dolphin’ (The Telegraph, June 2014). Delving into the research, Kim and Pete tell these stories with only a paddling pool and a couple of wetsuits.

MJ McCarthy’s delicate score and Rachel O’Neill’s surreal, contemporary design draws audiences into the joy and heartbreak of trying, and sometimes failing, to understand another being.

“Cleverly and deliberately entertaining …a production that asks chewy questions”  ★★★★ – Herald Scotland

CREDITS

Created by Kim Donohoe and Pete Lannon

Devised + performed by Kim Donohoe and Pete Lannon 

Directed + devised by Ellie Dubois

Music + sound design by Michael John McCarthy

Dramaturgy by Xana Marwick

Visual dramaturgy by Rachel O’Neill

Lighting design by Benny Goodman

Photos by Mihaela Bodlovic.

Like Animals has been developed in association with Tron CREATIVE through their Scratch and Tron Lab opportunities, and with support from Creative Scotland’s Open Project Fund.