When I sat down in my seat for the first night of the 2022 adaptation of Animal Farm at the Theatre Royal, I did not expect to love it as much as I did. I will admit, I have never read Orwell in my life, so the only context I had for the show was some intriguing press release pictures on Instagram and the pieces I knew of the story. I did not expect to love it as much as I did.
There was chatter through all the seats in the lead up to curtains, as a bedraggled farmer carried a pig-carcass back and forward across the stage. We were all excited to see what the puppets would be like on stage.
I was completely absorbed by the story as much as the production, and my heart was pounding throughout.
The truth is I was blown away by the puppets. The puppeteers and designers had meticulously worked together to make the movements and sounds of the animals realistic. There were multiple puppeteers per animal for many of the larger ones, but you were in no way distracted by the human presence on stage. It was especially clever how the legs of the of the puppeteer became the back legs of the puppet, ingeniously incorporating the human presence into the animal form. When the action was happening far away, tiny models of the characters and places would be used to create perspective.
Having never read Animal Farm, I was completely absorbed by the story as much as the production, and my heart was pounding throughout. This wasn’t helped by the death toll that would ring throughout the theatre when any animal died, with their name and age projected on the huge black theatre screens. I loved the fast-paced nature of the show, and the drama would increase with every scene change.
The show is on tour throughout the UK until the end of May, and I would definitely recommend catching the show if you can!
