Animal Farm
Animal Farm
James Firth-Haydon & Tim Rowlands
1 - 8 December 2012
Performances
Sat 7:45pm, Mon 7:45pm, Tue 7:45pm, Wed 7:45pm, Thu 7:45pm, Fri 7:45pm, Sat 2:45pm, Sat 7:45pm
The downtrodden beasts of Manor Farm oust the drunken farmer but the pigs soon succumb to the temptations of privilege and power.
Double-bill with The Browning Version
Synopsis
When the downtrodden beasts of Manor Farm oust the drunken farmer, all are awash in a collective zeal. Too soon, however, the pigs, who consider themselves superior in intelligence, succumb to the temptations of privilege and power.
This fast moving dramatisation of George Orwell's classic satire is fresh and immensley enjoyable without jeopardising the savagery of the original material.
Director's Notes
Animal Farm is regarded as one of the greatest works of twentieth century literature and this adaptation holds up to this esteem. The use of narration is still strong and the animal characters bring to light the important political and moral issues of the novel.
The Youth workshop leaders have spent much thought on the casting of these brilliant characters and the children and young adults are excited about the venture. Along with James and Tim they will utilize their brilliant imaginations and performance skills to agitate the audience into a revolution!
Review
George Orwell’s Animal Farm was first published in 1945 and since then it has been studied, translated throughout the world, filmed and adapted by Peter Hall for the National Theatre in 1985. This ‘fairy story’ as Orwell called it continues to fascinate and pose questions to its audience. The simple fable of animals and the subsequent corruption of power and rebellion can be seen on many levels. It is a timeless story that illuminates the human condition by using animals to show us what is perhaps unpalatable about ourselves.
Orwell described what gave him the idea for the setting.
“...I saw a little boy, perhaps ten years old, driving a huge carthorse along a narrow path, whipping it whenever it tried to turn. It struck me that if only such animals became aware of their strength we should have no power over them, and that men exploit animals in much the same way as the rich exploit the proletariat.”
It is apt that LLT chose to stage this
production with their Youth Theatre. It
is at this time when many young people
start to become aware of, and interested
in, issues such as freedom, oppression
and how the world works.
What wonderfully imaginative parts
these are for actors. The cast, some as
young as ten, concentrated throughout,
at ease with each other and their
audience, they brought out the humour
and charm that is part of this piece.
Therefore when the story takes a dark
turn this helped create the appropriate
pathos. In particular, the moving role of
Boxer was very well portrayed by Inez
Skilling with sensitivity and imagination.
Gem Bennington-Poulter strode the
stage and owned the part of the animal
leader who becomes the dictator -
Napoleon - with authority and charisma.
Rupert Flowers as Squealer the pig,
played as a bureaucratic control freak,
was concentrated and committed in his
characterisation and brought out the
humour well.
The Youth Theatre put together this
production over three months, meeting
only once a week. If they had more
time I’m sure the directors Tim Rowland
and James Firth-Haydon would have
developed the physicality of the
characters the young cast created. I
really liked the retro picture book feel
of the set. Congratulations to designer
Chris Berry and the team.
It is great to see emerging talent at LLT
and a number of audience members
commented on this. Mounting a double
bill with the Youth Theatre and an adult
play is an excellent way of encouraging
members to support budding actors.
Lucy Fitchett