Animal Farm at The Loft

Foreground Henry Clark as Snowball and David Bennett as Napoleon. Photo by Richard Smith.

Animal Farm by George Orwell adapted by Peter Hall at The Loft Theatre, Leamington from 21 to 31 January. Music by Richard Peaslee, lyrics by Adrian Mitchell.  Directed by Mark Crossley.

Review by Ann Evans

The Loft Theatre Company tackle the George Orwell classic Animal Farm and make an excellent job of re-telling this satirical dystopian story where the farm animals on Manor Farm rebel against their heartless drunken farmer, Mr Jones.

That’s the fable. George Orwell uses a farmyard scenario as a satirical look at the rise of Stalinism. It was written in 1942 but didn’t get published until the war had ended in 1945.

Like or loathe the book which has been studied and written about for generations, the stage play lays out the plot and the meanings are clear. We see the good intentions of the animals to be their own masters, and not be badly treated and half-starved by those in charge. But the ideals of equality and fairness are soon corrupted by the more powerful animals. They have rules which crumble under the growing tyranny of the pigs, until only one rule is left: All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than other. Certainly, if anyone is currently studying Animal Farm, this play is a must.

Simple but effective scenery. Photo by Richard Smith.

The stage is set, a wooden structure with a backdrop of a run-down farm. A sturdy wooden ramp and an open room at the top which is Mr Jones’ bedroom. The cast of 12 turn this into a cliff, a site for the windmill that they build, a setting for a battle and a rebellion. There are no other props – long hoes and people form the windmill’s sails; people become the crops growing in the fields with the cycle of time passing in just a few seconds. People and hoes turn into carts including the knackers’ carts which heartbreakingly takes Boxer the powerfully strong carthorse away for slaughter.

Mr Jones, the drunken farmer is played well by Blake Hutchings. Most of the cast play more than one part, and Blake also plays My Wymper and one of the sheep. The rest of the cast are the animals – their ‘breed’ depicted by their movements, which admittedly are a bit odd to see initially, but giving the actors their due, they all stick rigidly to their commitment as they portrays their characters.

Building the windmill. Photo by Richard Smith.

A great performance by Mark Roberts in his portrayal of Boxer the carthorse. He also plays a bull and Mr Pilkington. As Boxer, in Orwell’s world, he represents the working class. Two of the main phrases he doggedly repeats throughout are “I will work harder” and “Napoleon is always right”.

Napoleon is excellently played by David Bennett. He is one of the pigs leading the rebellion against Mr Jones and humans in general. But power corrupts and he becomes the leader of the animals. His tyranny is worse than anything the other animals had experienced before, and there is no mercy for any of the ‘lesser’ animals.

Old Major (foreground right) passes away. Photo by Richard Smith.

The play is not doom and gloom however, it’s fast, it’s concise, it’s entertaining. There’s music, songs, humour. Sage Woore plays Mollie a pretty but vain white horse who only cares about sugar, ribbons in her mane and herself. Lovely singing by her when playing Mollie. But when she spots a better life for herself in the next field and goes off never to be seen again, actor Sage takes on the role of Minimus a poetic pig, in allegiance with Napoleon – whose singing voice takes a turn for the worse as she warbles out her propaganda verses to praise Napolean and his leadership.

Good performances by all the cast with special mention to Henry Clarke as Snowball the idealistic pig, intelligent and outspoken, but hated and driven out by Napoleon. Old Major played by Elaine Freeborn – a wise and respected pig whose ideals form the basis of ‘Animalism’; Elaine also plays Benjamin the intelligent old donkey after Old Major dies; and Squealer the manipulative pig played by Laura Hayward-Smith.

The rebellion. Photo by Richard Smith.

Throughout the play, members of the cast narrate the action, leaving the audience in no doubt as to what is happening, and making the play very easy to follow and understand. The casts’ excellent performances portray the tyranny and oppression as pigs become the creatures they had initially wanted to overthrow.

Well done the director Mark Crossley and all the backstage crew for the lighting, music and special effects. An enjoyable – and very different theatrical experience and I for one came away understanding what George Orwell was saying 80 years ago – and sadly still applies today.

For tickets: https://lofttheatrecompany.com/