George Orwell, adap Ian Wooldridge
Octagon Theatre, Bolton, Derby Theatre and Hull Truck Theatre
Octagon Theatre, Bolton
January 22-February 1, 2025; 1hr 50mins
(Also Liverpool Playhouse, April 1-5.)
It is testament to the quality of regional theatre that when it is good it can be very good indeed and everyone wants a piece. So congratulations to the Octagon and partners as their hugely successful production of Animal Farm, first seen a year ago, returns to Bolton at the start of a UK tour that takes in seven theatres, including Liverpool Playhouse in our home region.
Orwell's allegory, now 80 years old, reflects the way in which the optimism of the Russian revolution only led to a move from one sort of oppression to another - from Tsar Nicholas II to Stalin. Here, anthropomorphic animals, representing the key players in that historic change, make a bid for equality, and freedom from the tyranny of man, only to find that some animals are more equal than others. For most of them, their life is no better - for most, even worse.
At last year's opening, director Iqbal Khan said in this play the revolution is against contemporary technology and surveillance. The theme has been underlined here, and is clearer – or maybe I just understood better what he was getting at.
The play opens with a bank of cctv cameras and the voice of an unseen Farmer Jones issuing instructions – reminiscent of Orwell's own 1984. In their efforts to focus on the honest truths of the farm, the animals deconstruct the surveillance technology, only for it to be reintroduced by the dominant pigs. Propaganda (aka fake news) is rife, and in comes agricultural machinery, a horribly modern abattoir, microphones and even mobile phones. Feeling uncomfortable now? You are meant to.
Menacing background music, albeit sometimes a little too loud, effective lighting, sound effects, costumes (mainly wicker headpieces) and a set that reflects rather than dominates the action, all give support. While scenes can pass slowly, the show gathers momentum, particularly in the second half.
All of this would be nothing it not for the performances. It's generally a very sound cast, which changes of personnel over the original.
There are a few stand-outs: for me the two cart horses and the ageing donkey. Sam Black reprises his role as Boxer, the naive, trusting and not very bright cart horse who tries to work harder and harder to please his master.
Saroosh Lavasani not only plays alleged traitor Snowball, but also Benjamin, the wise old donkey who sees the way the wind is blowing.
Natalia Campbell plays Old Major, the pig whose dream of a liberated future inspires the other animals. But it is as Clover, the gentle, optimistic horse understandably confused when promises are not fulfilled, that she comes into her own. The dynamic between the three of them is touching.
Though there are light moments, Animal Farm remains fundamentally disturbing and still highly relevant.
More info and tickets here
