Animal Farm – Golden Goose Theatre, Camberwell

Reviewer: Christine Stanton

Writer: George Orwell – Adapted By: Paul Stebbings

Director: Gaspard Legendre

“Politically Moooving”

3 / 5

George Orwell’s classic Animal Farm ruffled feathers when it was first released in 1945, an allegory of the Russian Revolution, it sparked so much controversy that it was banned in multiple countries and heavily censored due to its scathing critiques. It has since been adapted many times both on screen and stage – with the most recent appearance at very aptly named Golden Goose Theatre.  

Following the original story, the animals at Manor Farm are fed up of the treatment from the farmers in charge. Banding together they ignite a revolution, overthrowing the humans and taking control, excited for the Utopian, independent future that lies ahead of them. They create commandments of the newly a named Animal Farm such as all animals are equal, no animal shall drink alcohol and anything on two legs is an enemy. But slowly, power imbalances begin to surface and cracks start to appear, with one pig in particular – Napoleon, becoming a greed hungry swine-dler. He seizes a leadership position and quickly strips Animal Farm of all its original principals, forcing them back to a similar position of inequality and tyranny that they had experienced previously.  

For those not familiar with the Orwell text, this production could initially be slightly confusing in differentiating from each animal and human that each actor plays. Although they do a great job of morphing into each character, having no costume amendments or props does the story a disservice, making the production feel more like an excellent final rehearsal than a fully completed show. While there doesn’t need to be extravagant additions, a little more imagination and creativity would really help to elevate the visuals, rather than just dragging a manky old pillow out on stage to feature as a chicken. 

That being said the passion and commitment from the entire cast is fantastic. Janeks Babidoriks wonderfully transforms between the erratic movements of an aggressive dog to the controlled sleek behaviour when he becomes the cat. John Fagan humorously interacts with the audience, switching accents successfully every time he becomes a new animal. Tony Wadham’s depiction of the dopey, hard-working horse is just as entertaining as when he hilariously becomes a drunken farmer. Gerald Dorrity (Snowball) and Kevin Martin Murphy (Napoleon) are brilliantly rousing with their passionate speeches – although very much on separate sides, they portray leadership and power to perfection.  

This is a politically moooving show that does the themes in the original text justice. While the execution of costume and props could be implemeted better, the udderly brilliant cast more than compensate for it, resulting in an overall pawsitive production. 
 
Runs Until 8 July 2023