SHOW: Animal Farm - LAST year Sibikwa Arts Centre brought George Orwell’s Animal Farm to the stage, writes Annette Bayne

DATES: August 16 - 29

VENUE: Dance Factory, President Street Newtown

Directed and adapted by Phyllis Klotz, the play, a set work for matrics, fell over the time the country had just completed its fourth general election.

Now, with funding from the Department of Arts and Culture the play is back, by popular demand.

It tells the chilling tale of the down-trodden animals who overthrow their human master and embark on a life of freedom, only to find themselves caught up in another form of tyranny.

At the time Klotz first developed the piece, she felt it was fitting for the mood in the country and now, even after the World Cup, she still believes that Orwell’s dark fairytale has its place.

“I don’t think the mood of the people has changed much since the election. In fact I think there is more disappointment at the lack of accountability in government. You just have to look at the response to the Gauteng MEC for health’s conclusions on the death of those babies last week.”

Although the production hasn’t changed much since last year, there have been a number of cast changes and the choreography will be handled by Athena Mazarakis.

Directing a new, smaller cast and new musicians, Klotz has found that the production has swung a slightly different way to the first version, not only making it interesting but also deepening her understanding of the story.

Although there are no humans as such in the performance, Klotz avoids turning the cast completely into animals and draws on the essence of animals for characterisation.

As in Orwell’s story, it isn’t hard to see the human face.

A parody of classic Marxism, Animal Farm reflects the events leading up to and during the Stalin era before World War Two.

But it goes beyond history and the obvious comparisons and there are often times when one hears Squealer’s voice evoking Orwell’s most powerful line “All animals are equal, But some animals are more equal than others,” as it plays out in action.

“This is such a clever piece. It’s so deceptively simple but it echoes and resounds on so many levels and it is so universal,” says Klotz, whose adaptation of the story sticks closely to the original.

“Orwell’s writing is so exquisite. It is all there, I have only set it in South Africa, as I believe it is important to have it placed here.”