Animal Farm at Birmingham Rep - Review

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Tue 25 Jan 2022 - Sat 05 Feb 2022

George Orwell's story of revolution in a farmyard is brought to life with bitter humour and life-size puppetry at Birmingham Rep before embarking on a UK tour.

When the animals unite to drive their human master from Manor Farm and take over, the dream of a utopia descends into division, exploitation and murder.



Despite the eight rules of the revolution being based around the belief that all animals are equal, the reality is that one group, the pigs, are rapidly dominant. When the pigs also split, the stronger of the two, Napoleon, drives out the weaker Snowball, names him a traitor and uses this alleged plot as the basis to ruthlessly remove any murmurs of opposition.

By the close, the pigs have broken all their own rules and become as human, if not more so, as the original farmer and for the other animals, revolution leaves them in the thrall of a different master.

Adapted and directed by Robert Icke, all of the animals in the show from the tiniest of birds through to Boxer the mighty shire horse are puppets designed and directed by Toby Olie, whose previous credits include War Horse.

Each of the animals has been carefully crafted and their movements designed so they encapsulate the essence of each creature. The cast who manipulate the puppets are excellent, capturing those idiosyncratic movements from the bobbing head of a chicken to the careful stalking of a cat and the ear waggling of the pigs.

Jonathan Dryden Taylor plays the farmer as a truculent businessman with no love for his animals so that we feel little sympathy when he is driven from the farm.

Designed by Bunny Christie, the sets are a mix of macro and micro with animals portrayed as life-size but with small scale creatures used to mirror some of the action taking place. And as each animal dies their name, cause of death and age are displayed above the stage like a ticker tape announcement – reinforcing a sense of a countdown to doom.



Orwell's tale may have been his allegorical take on the Russian revolution of a century ago but it feels scarily relevant today. While most of the animals believe the revolutionary mantra 'all animals are equal' there are some who add on 'but some are more equal than others'. And while the majority of the farmyard follow the rules, those who gain control bend those rules to suit their own means.

A Children's Theatre Partnership production in partnership with the Rep, the show is aimed at children aged 11 and over and will be popular with schools currently studying Orwell's novel. But this is as much a show for adults who will recognise Orwell's messages and his critique of human nature and no doubt see parallels in politics today.

For details and tickets see ww.birmingham-rep.co.uk/whats-on/animal-farm. The national tour includes Belgrade Theatre Coventry in April and Wolverhampton Grand Theatre in May. For full tour info see animalfarmonstage.co.uk

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!date 25/01/2022 -- 05/02/2022
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