Theatre Review: Animal Farm

George Orwell’s Animal Farm made its way to the Belgrade Theatre; this classic dystopian novel was brought to life in a collaboration between the Children’s Theatre Partnership and the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. The story follows a family of farm animals as they plan to revolt against the rule of the human farmers. In a bid to create a world where they are all free and equal, they cast out any human intervention and tirelessly fight back when they try to reclaim what was once theirs.

Initially, it seems that the animals might have hit the nail on the head. Living and working alongside each other, abiding by the eight commandments that sets them apart from those with two legs. They will not sleep in a bed, trade, or handle money. Nor will they drink alcohol, wear clothes, or kill another fellow animal just to name a few. This perfect utopian world instantly begins to break down once a hierarchal structure is imposed. A structure that sees the commandments continuously subverted or removed altogether.

I was […] blown away by the full-scale production. The thought and attention to detail were truly remarkable

Having never read the book, I came in blind to this performance. The name and title afforded it a status that meant I knew I was in for an enjoyable experience. Orwell’s satirical condemnation of the Russian Revolution has stood the test of time as a must-read. However, with all that considered I was still blown away by the full-scale production. The thought and attention to detail were truly remarkable. I have learnt to resist attributing the label ‘the best’ to any performance I have the pleasure of watching. This is because theatre continues to amaze me and push the boundaries in storytelling to its audiences. That being said, Robert Icke’s adaptation of Animal Farm has to be up there as it captured my attention from start to finish.

I liked that the Belgrade chose to have no intermission because the performance didn’t have to pause the action and then build it back up again once we took to our seats. Rather, they could continuously entertain us – something they did exceptionally well.

I’m not sure what came to mind when I initially thought of puppetry, but it certainly was not the extraordinary display before me

I’m not sure what came to mind when I initially thought of puppetry, but it certainly was not the extraordinary display before me. With puppetry designer and director Toby Olié, creating over 30 life-size puppets for this performance alone, his artistic ability shone throughout the auditorium in its entirety. This is completely understandable considering his list of previous credits includes War Horse, Alice in Wonderland and The Little Mermaid. How this was executed with only 14 operators is a question I will never know.

As the play progressed, we saw visible human traits adopted by the newfound leaders of the farm. The audience will remember the continuous chant of ‘four legs good, two legs bad,’ that punctured the room at the beginning of the play. However, as we reached the end of the play the pigs were no longer distinguishable from the humans as they walked around on two legs. The biggest change of all came in the ‘All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.’ The noble ideology of the revolution had been lost as corruption, greed and power had been allowed to manifest.