What the Animals Say

by David Ireland.

Greyscale Tour: Hull Truck Main Stage, Northern Stage, Camden People’s Theatre. October 2012

Directed by Lorne Campbell
, Design by Fly Davis, 
Lighting Design by Chris Withers
, Cast: Huss Garbiya ( Eddie ) and Chris Ryman ( Jimmy)

Catherine Love, EXEUNT REVIEW: Fly Davis’ design expands on the underlying concerns of Ireland’s text rather than its literal settings. National tensions – allegiances as strong and as fiercely fought over as football club loyalties – are ever present, alluded to by a partially obscured image of the union jack that finds its counterpoint in the green and orange benches on which the characters sit. As Eddie’s involvement in the Mel Gibson film that Jimmy was auditioning for intensifies the animosity between the pair, a distorted portrait of the director becomes the canvas on which their grievances are painted, a striking visualisation of the twisted shrine of celebrity.