ANIMAL FARM, AT THE ARTS THEATRE
Something is stirring in the barnyard. The animals are restive, sick of being exploited by the hated human hand of the farmer. Revolution is the answer and off we trot on the rocky and crumbling road to a working animal’s paradise. George Orwell’s 1943 novella is a paragon of political satire in the true sense of that word, an heir to Jonathan Swift in its use of parable and thinly disguised fable. Stalin and his corruption of revolutionary zeal was Orwell’s target and he had the devil’s own job to find a publisher who would agree to let our wartime ally be unmasked for what he was – a brutal tyrant who had oceans of blood on his hands.
Staging the story which features a cast of rebellious pigs, horses, cows and chickens is certainly a challenge for any director. Robert Icke, writer and director, has thrown everything in the ring: life-size puppets, stunning lighting effects and a spine-tingling soundscape throwing in Elgar, Mahler and some stirringly original anthems. The result is a true assault on all our senses – but in a very good way; heart strings are wrenched not pulled as our lovable sheep, chirpy chickens and heroic moggies bite the dust, victims of the increasingly tyrannical schemes of the ruling class aka the pigs led by the Great Leader, Napoleon, the ultimate swine.
The expertise behind the puppetry was remarkable. The 14-strong cast seem to magically disappear as all creatures – great and small – came ‘alive’. Boxer, the giant cart horse, had all the towering strength, grace and common dignity one would expect from the book. There were jaw-dropping moments aplenty – nightmarish battle scenes where humans and animals fought to the death against a swirling wash of red mist and edgy underscore. Sliding barn doors provided an ever-shifting backdrop, and downstage gantries allowed more distant perspectives - a far-off farmhouse or working animals pulling the plough in a distant field. Set piece revolutionary ‘meetings’ punctuated by on-screen captions kept the action moving forward as the pigs start to ambush the revolution and impose their own rules including an ever-diminishing number of founding and self-serving principles.
My only slight doubt in all this was that the sheer audacity and skill of the puppetry tended to distance one’s reaction to Orwell’s central message – that revolution ultimately makes no difference to the lives of the oppressed – it just means that they are exploited by a new set of rulers. By the end of the production though, the near full audience gave the operators a standing ovation. Very well deserved of course, but this was all-embracing theatre – stunningly executed and viscerally dramatic. Something to stir the mind and the heart – darkly menacing, deeply moving and entertainingly intelligent.
