Animal Farm

It’s a brave director that takes on a satirical allegory about revolution and power with a youth group, which explores themes of totalitarianism, the corruption of ideals and the power of language. This dramatisation of Animal Farm by Ian Wooldridge remains faithful to George Orwell’s original story and is packed full of symbols and themes into a condensed 90 minutes.

Debbie Jones (Director) must be delighted with the performances given by the cast and it was great to hear every word being delivered clearly, with tone and meaning.

I understand that time had been spent prior to rehearsals exploring the concepts of society, liberty, human nature, leadership punishment and equality.  These discussions had provided a great opportunity to learn and laid firm foundations on which to build the performances upon.

Animal Farm can be viewed on two distinct levels with characters representing themselves as animals but also conveying moral or philosophical messages. Many of the characters in Animal Farm represent political leaders of the Russian Revolution and exploring beneath the surface of the character had assisted in delivering those messages to the audience.

In its simplest form however ‘The Manor Farm’ is taken over by its overworked, mistreated animals from its human owner, Mr Jones. The animals are full of idealism, stirring slogans but with the optimism of creating a paradise for progress, justice and equality.

The performers had clearly developed elements of their animal characters and there were clear character developments through out the performance. The group worked well together especially during the revolution scenes and the brutality of the ‘mob’ was particularly effective.

As the evening progressed the overall feeling conveyed to the audience was that of  ‘corruption through power for some’ and the ‘oppressed tightening of the noose of oppression for others’.

Performers interacted well together with good physical and facial reactions to the dialogue.

There was clever use of properties such as the displaying of the Seven Commandments of Animalism that were hung on a barn ladder, which were manipulated and changed as the story unfolded and the construction of the windmill complete with sails.

As well as the dark side of this story there were elements that lightened the mood, the use of an oversized puppet as the drunken Mr Jones provided much surprise and delight to the audience.

Sound effects set the scenes for the farm and the accompaniment provided by the musicians (Jock Tyldesley and John Neilson) created great atmosphere.

In addition sound and lighting were provided by Megan Lawson (aged 14) and Ffin Dillon (aged 15).

Overall a good production and I look forward to seeing how this group develops going forward.

 

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