“Animal”, a new joint production production between Park Theatre and Hope Mill Theatre, runs until the 2nd April at Hope Mill in New Islington. It tells The frustrations stem from a lack of any kind of sex life – he can’t even pleasure himself – and I took the title to refer to animal instincts as most people have an urge in that directon, but later on it takes on a different meaning.
David is supported at home by Jill (Amy Loughton) and Derek (Matt Ayleigh) who both have their own problems in life, but surrender to David’s needs – usually to their own detriment. The play pulls no punches about David’s disabilities and tackles issues head on. David isn’t an entirely likeable character as his needs have to come first even when it means Jill and Matt miss out on opportunities of their own. That said, it’s hard not to like him – not least because of the truly amazing performance – and there is a lot of humour too. A final character, Mani, pops in and out, and the mistaken identity when David’s father visits – Mani thinks he’s another trick – is very funny indeed.
To alleviate his loneliness, and be given a hand, so to speak, David takes to Grindr with mixed results. Various hookups ensue (most of them well played by William Oxborrow but Matt also has a part here), and then Liam (Joshua Libord) arrives and David is smitten. From here it’s down hill for a while as Liam has his own problems in life, and things hit rock bottom after Jill’s boyfriend Michael (Harry Singh, who also plays Mani) pleasures David in a brief fumble, but things do recover towards the end.
All performances are fantastic, so much so that at one stage I ended up believing that Christopher did have all the ailments that David has in the play, and the doubling up of parts works well too.
Hope Mill was the perfect venue. The play simply wouldn’t work in a larger space as the intimacy would be lost.
It’s a fantastic play, and would be well worth a second visit. If that isn’t an option the play is available for sale at the bar.
Paul Schofield for Ancoats+
