Michael Cox reviews an enjoyable production.
Pete Lannon and Kim Donohoe are in love. They tell us at the beginning of their production Like Animals that they’ve been together for a while and relay facts about their relationship. They also tell us they’re about to perform scenes depicting the true stories of two animal/human relationships: a) Peter the dolphin and Margaret—a woman funded by NASA to conduct an experiment in communication—and b) Alex the parrot who bonded with Irene, a scientist.
What follows is a montage of scenes, mostly focusing on the Peter or Alex stories but allowing Lannon and Donohoe to expose intimacy issues. The play is consistently funny and interesting, and the performers are always engaging.
And yet, everything feels a little slight. Its sixty-minute running time feels a bit stretched, with some scenes feeling over-padded or repetitive. But Lannon and Donohoe are always fun to watch, and the production is very enjoyable.
Like Animals performs at Summerhall at 1415 (not 12thor 19th) until August 25th.