Review: Animal Farm

by Kate Bull

"All animals are created equal, but some are more equal than others"

A fairy tale or a nightmare? It all began with a dream of equality and freedom from oppression but slowly a tragic tale of hierarchy, betrayal and dictatorship unravels.

Before reading our review catch our preview here

This weekend saw the Drama Barn transformed into the ‘Drama Farm’ for Ian Wooldbridge’s stage play of Orwell’s allegorical novella.

The set was fantastic – appealing to all the senses: smell, sound, sight and touch. It was a visceral treat for the audience, for it involved them in a way that did not patronise (unlike some examples of audience interaction). The viewers were amalgamated to become part of the set – locked behind fences and pens. The transverse stage configuration was inventive: we became both audience and participants, unable to control the monstrous, swine-led events that unfold. Sarah Palmer and Kat Ronson deserve congratulation for their work. Although, this inventive stage proved haphazard at times both for the actors and audience, as no one seemed safe from the 'splash zone' of various liquids and fruity debrees, and the issue of broken glass at the end of the performance obliged the audience to leave through the back door. The ‘fourth wall’ was well and truly broken with the audience encouraged to feed the actors on entry.

Technically, lighting was used very effectively. Use of blackouts (which normally seem to me amateurish) worked well to enact the Battle of the Cowshed. Combined with a red gel and threatening tableaux, the blackouts were a contrast to the deafening chaotic atmosphere created by the anthropomorphic action. Music, again, was used well to work against the constant, rasping speech of the cast. The most notable musical interlude was Ross Cronshaw’ saxophone playing – live music on stage is always impressive. Equally, the (there is no other word for it) hearty singing of the cast at the beginning of the play, led by Mungo Tatton-Brown’s Old Major, was emotional and rousing. (Tatton-Brown’s acting was especially impressive as he created two greatly differing pig characters – Old Major and Minimus).

The physicality of all the cast members was impressive, but it was Peter Marshall’s Napoleon that stole the show. With great presence on stage, he commanded both the characters and audience admirably. Terrifying, monstrous and disgusting, his performance was enthralling. Adam Seldon’s obsequious Squealer worked fantastically well with Marshall’s character: they created an infuriating duo. Physically, all the cast should be congratulated for putting such immense effort into the creation of their animal aliases, seen too in the vocal variety on show. Power relations were impressively through Palmer and Ronson’ direction and good special awareness. Pig power was easily recognisable.

Oliver McKinley as Benjamin the Donkey was very good, as was Mitch Holder-Mansfield’s Boxer. (I am very protective of Boxer as a character, whose story has always touched me. The play made me well-up as he was taken away, and thus, to me, was a success.) Boxer’s opposite number, Clover, was sensitively portrayed by Hannah Schembri.

Generally, this performance was very impressive. First night nerves slightly affected occasional lighting and scene transitions, but otherwise, it is a treat to not only to be beheld, but to be immersed in.

Review: 'The Saliva Milkshake'

Reviewed by Kate Bull.

Before Reading our review hear our preview of the production now on the ((URY PLAYER))

The director’s choice of “The Siliva Milkshake” was a good one. It is topical in so much that today’s funding for the Arts is being cut, and the role of student protest is at the fore front of people’s minds. Plays for Poor Theatre are once more becoming a necessity; Brenton’s play is an enjoyable necessity.

Unfortunately, the URY preview promises something the play itself fails to deliver: a fast paced thriller of political intrigue and paranoia. Perhaps the stress of being both the narrator and protagonist of this play was too much for Abbott, for his character’s emotions, to us, seemed stilted and unnatural. The peak of Martin’s paranoia was never fully reached, affecting the play’s success in affecting the audience. As a result, I felt no empathy with the protagonist as the final scenes unfolded. Lily Cooper, as Joan (the extremist ex-student whose one action the play forms around) was very good, delivering intense scenes with confidence and understanding. Ryan Hall as Rafferty also deserves mention – his sadistic scenes had a childlike quality that added to a characterization that was quite threatening.

Matthew Lecznar’s direction deserves praise for it’s ambition, although some of the intensity apparent in Brenton’s writing did not quite translate effectively to the stage: some of the monologues became dull and stilted. However, there were some truly excellent scenes in which Lecznar’s understanding of the space, and the space between the actors, really shone. One example of this was the split stage moment of near total darkness, apart from a cigarette end and a red gel. This was fantastically effective. Otherwise, moments of slow motion throughout and the use of the projector screen as a gauze with silhouettes behind, were creative and well thought through. I believe, that with further experience, Lecznar will become an interesting director indeed.

Katie Lambert’s lighting design was effective, if slightly under-rehearsed in places. The use of an OHP projector worked cleverly to demonstrate change of scenes, and bring home Brenton’s ideals of Plays for the Poor Theatre. The blank, black space of The Drama Barn again demonstrated Lecznar’s understanding of the play’s context.

Overall, an engaging production, but one that just fell short of its director’s promise to teach the audience “something about themselves, about society and about real life”.

Listen in to the full review on 'In the Stalls' now on the ((URY PLAYER))