Dragon Review: Animal Farm – Yvonne Arnaud Theatre

Published on: 12 Mar, 2025
Updated on: 12 Mar, 2025

The animals revolt. Pamela Raith

By Martin Giles

Animal Farm was described by its author George Orwell as a fairytale but the tale of how power corrupts is more of a nightmare, a nightmare that resonates with news of current world affairs.

It might have been based on Soviet Russia but there are echoes in many other regimes around the world.

Soroosh Lavasani as the perceptive donkey Benjamin. Pamela Raith

Director Iqbal Khan said that he wanted to find an “…imaginative and meaningful way to re-tell this story for audiences living through turbulent times”. He has succeeded.

Although the story is familiar to many of us it does bear re-telling and in this production by the Octagon Theatre, Bolton, it is re-told well.

The acting is good throughout. The animal-specific movements were imitated skilfully to allow us to easily distinguish pigs from horses and horses from donkeys, even without the wicker headgear worn to keep things absolutely clear.

For me, Soroosh Lavasani’s portrayal of a donkey stood out. It was both accurate and entertaining, especially in the dance sequence. He also delivered his lines with astute comic timing.

Sam Black’s Boxer was also first-rate; the workhorse worn out by a lifetime’s hard toil exploited even more by the pig class that had promised to improve conditions for all the animals.

Songs, excellently sung by the whole cast, occasionally added a note of levity to a tale most of us knew would end badly.

Squealer Lewis Griffiths explains to Boxer Sam Black that what he remembers is not the ‘real’ truth. Pamela Raith

The austere metallic set reflected the prison-like conditions in which the animals were kept, our imaginations steered to the contrasting comfort of the farmhouse, out of sight behind the screening, in which the pigs took up residence.

My only slight criticism was that occasionally words became indistinct when over-amplified, slightly frustrating because I really didn’t want to miss a thing.

Animal Farm is clearly a moral tale. But what is the moral we should take from it? Most of us feel powerless to influence the way we are governed but at least, perhaps, those of us in the world given a vote should be very careful how we use it.

Some seats are still available. I recommend you make a booking.

Go to: https://www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk/whats-on/animal-farm or call box office: 01483 440000.