Animal Farm on stage: a ‘startlingly handsome’ production
War Horse-style animal puppetry is used to ‘magnificent’ effect

George Orwell’s Animal Farm has “something to teach every generation”, said Clive Davis in The Times. But now seems a particularly apt time to revisit his allegorical fable about the slide into authoritarianism and a “megalomaniacal dictator whose words make a mockery of the truth”.
In this “brisk and pungent” staging, War Horse-style animal puppetry is used to “magnificent” effect, and there is evocative music by the likes of Mahler and Puccini to underscore the “graphic novel-like narrative”. The show is a co-production between the Children’s Theatre Partnership and Birmingham Rep. However, it is not ideal for younger audiences: this depiction of a revolution betrayed “doesn’t spare us the gory details”.
It’s a “compelling” production, “superbly done”, said Quentin Letts in The Sunday Times. Both adults and older children should find it gripping. Director Robert Icke has great fun with the story, with the early scenes – when the animals topple Farmer Jones – evincing a “jauntiness redolent of Nick Park’s Wallace & Gromit”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The puppets, by Toby Olié, are outstanding, from the ruling-class pigs with concertina-shaped torsos and bossy gaits to the hens that peck and flap. Boxer, the trusting Clydesdale horse, is a particular beauty: he maintains the “monumental shoulders and the dignified tread of a horny-hoofed worker, even as the revolution he supported turns cannibalistic and the porcine leaders turn into the autocrats they replaced”.
This “startlingly handsome” production is phenomenal in many respects, agreed Arifa Akbar in The Guardian. The 14 puppeteers work with “incredible nimbleness”, and the battle and chase scenes are “breathtaking”. But it doesn’t always convey a “palpable sense of fear or menace” on the farm – and there’s an “emotional flatness” to some of the storytelling.
For instance, Napoleon (the Stalin figure) never becomes truly frightening, and his betrayal of Boxer is “not as tragic as it should be”. Still, what the play lacks in its “emotional effects it makes up for in exhilarating spectacle, imagination, energy and the absolute glory of its puppetry”.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
October 5 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include half-truth hucksters, Capitol lockdown, and more
-
Jaguar Land Rover’s cyber bailout
Talking Point Should the government do more to protect business from the ‘cyber shockwave’?
-
Russia: already at war with Europe?
Talking Point As Kremlin begins ‘cranking up attacks’ on Ukraine’s European allies, questions about future action remain unanswered
-
Mustardy beans and hazelnuts recipe
The Week Recommends Nod to French classic offers zingy, fresh taste
-
Susie Dent picks her favourite books
The Week Recommends The lexicographer and etymologist shares works by Jane Goodall, Noel Streatfeild and Madeleine Pelling
-
6 incredible homes under $1 million
Feature Featuring a home in the National Historic Landmark District of Virginia and a renovated mid-century modern house in Washington
-
The Harder They Come: ‘triumphant’ adaptation of cinema classic
The Week Recommends ‘Uniformly excellent’ cast follow an aspiring musician facing the ‘corruption’ of Kingston, Jamaica
-
House of Guinness: ‘rip-roaring’ Dublin brewing dynasty period drama
The Week Recommends The Irish series mixes the family tangles of ‘Downton’ and ‘Succession’ for a ‘dark’ and ‘quaffable’ watch
-
Dead of Winter: a ‘kick-ass’ hostage thriller
The Week Recommends Emma Thompson plays against type in suspenseful Minnesota-set hair-raiser ‘ringing with gunshots’
-
A Booker shortlist for grown-ups?
Talking Point Dominated by middle-aged authors, this year’s list is a return to ‘good old-fashioned literary fiction’
-
Fractured France: an ‘informative and funny’ enquiry
The Week Recommends Andrew Hussey's work is a blend of ‘memoir, travelogue and personal confession’