Coming to see Like Rabbits, I was unfamiliar with its source, the short story Lappin and Lapinova by Virginia Woolf. So without a reference point, this new work by Lost Dog and writer Lucy Kirkwood seems all the stranger, but no less affecting. While a fairly sparse interpretation, the simplicity leaves room for some biting comic moments and a quiet kind of tragedy.
The work tells the simple but shattering tale of a couple who fall in and out of love, through the generation and subsequent breakdown of their fantasy world. Updated from the original Edwardian setting of Woolf's story, the work takes place in modern day. There is a nod to its heritage through the costumes in the opening scene, with Ben Duke in a black velvet jacket and Ino Riga in virginal white, all puffy sleeves and frills. Apart from this it is rooted in the modern day, with the pair meeting in a nightclub scene that shows off Duke's theatrical abilities; while Riga coolly sits, cigarette in hand, Duke embarks on a sweetly awful seduction routine full of nervous machismo and awkward posing. It works anyway, and he is invited into Riga's world, which is certainly stranger than he anticipates.
Riga embarks on a seduction ritual of her own, appearing confident and knowing as she advances upon Duke with thrusting and whirling of arms. The reason for the prudish costume becomes apparent when she strips off and reveals her secret; a rabbit suit, wispy and dishevelled like she's been tangled in a hedgerow for a while. Thankfully the suit bears more resemblance to a Matthew Bourne Swan than the Easter Bunny, and emphasises the fragility of her small frame against Duke's tall and suited body. This unveiling of the rabbit persona is funny and poignant, highlighting the moment of falling in love, of letting someone see the whole person, or rather rabbit.