Soft Animal

Format: Performance
Dates: 15 May 2026
Venue: Light HouseMad House & Reality Research Center, Helsinki (FI)
Duration: 50 min
Language:
English
Tickets: Available here
Artists interview: Read here




Direction, text, performance: ONCE WE WERE ISLANDS
Light House curation: Olga Spyropoulou 
Other Light House participating artists: Haliz Yosef, Salla Valle, Viljami Nissi & Aeon Lux


“You all know why we’re here. If you’ve changed your mind, now is the time to leave.”

We got a micro-grant. We were supposed to write a play with it. But you know the artworld. It’s only ever abouting — about change, about community, about care — and never seems to be about doing. So, we took the money and started a cult with it instead. A direct action cult. A radical cult. To become soft animals.

Fuck moderation.

We bought an old van. Filled it with petrol. Got some tools. What could go wrong?
Soft Animal is a short story about the very first night of a brand new future. Out on a hill. Under the moon. Far enough from the city to avoid dog-walkers and the cops. Told with voices, badly dancing bodies, and a cassette tape of final songs.

Photography by Mathias Reding (creative commons).

Light House is produced by Mad House Helsinki & Reality Research Center. Soft Animal is also kindly supported by Esiintymä Festival, Outokumpu.

Thanks to Anaïs Lajoinie, Veera Leppänen, Ruby Louise Rose, and all who proposed songs about dancing.