2nd March Down on the farm

 

I must admit I have never read Animal Farm by George Orwell, and to be honest is not going on my 'must read' list anytime soon despiteback on 2016  it beign voted the nations favourite book that people read st school.  But a general familiarity with the overall story meant that a trip to the lovely little theatre in Derby wouldn't stretch my limited knowledge too much.

After the extraveganza of Minority Report earlier in th week I wasn't sure if another trip so soon would prove a let down. The answer was no, it was just a very different experience. Whereas Minority Report was blinding neon and fantastic shape changing scenery, this was performed on a solitary backdrop that was stark, bleak, industrial, sinister. Even the music was monotonous and even toneless.

In Iqbal Khan’s production, the story is told by only six actors who each play multiple roles, each one representing one of the animals on the farm, animals that came to life via sound (grunting, squealing and baaing), characteristic movements (hoof stamping) and the wearing of suitably shaped wicker adorments on their heads. It could have come across as quite amateurish like an actors workshop and although it certainly was 'Life of Pi' standard it worked well.

The question as to whether Orwell's novella would still be as relevant today as it was when written is an affirming (and worrying) yes, with its themes of  community, equality and loyalty, being challenged by propaganda, dictatorship and fear still as present in todays society. At the core of the play is the statement that all all equal but some are more equal that others.Power it seems corrupts, whilst absolute power corrupts absolutley, something that we see all too often today.

And with a first act lasting 55 mins and second act running at a little over 30 mins, it also meant we were back home before 10pm as happy as pigs in mud. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

6th May Olbia

Image
  A chance to stretch our legs today with our first port of call; Olbia, Sardinia. And it was a quick stretch too due to it being only a five hour stay. Up bright and early, so early in fact that the hot food at the buffet wasn't even ready to be served. Still it gave us a chance to watch the ship glide into port past a host of oyster/mussel beds, before performing a 180 degree turn to reverse into it's berth. A couple of short bus rides later and we were in downtown Olbia. But there an hour or so before anything appeared to open, the disadvantage of being early birds and something we don't seem to learn! Not that Olbia had a great deal to see or maybe if we had done the slightest bit of planning beforehand there might have benn but we didn't. It was pleasant enough but that's about it. It was pleasant enough but nothing special, indeed we were back on the ship after just a couple of hours ashore and then managed to sleep away most of th...
Read more

7th May Naples

Image
 I'm sure I've heard the phrase 'see Naples and die' suggesting that it is perhaps not the nicest location in the Mediterranean but if it's good enough for Diego Maradona fir a few years then it's good enough for me for 10 hours. Although the millions of tax free pounds he was paid might have eased his stay. By the time we got up, washed, dressed and up to The Kitchens, the rest of the ship were already there. Compared to the Marie Celeste of yesterday it was absolutely packed, presumably with people having breakfast before heading out on 8am excursions, our excursion was simply going to be the city of Naples itself as possible trips to Vesuvius, Pompei or the Amalfi coast would have been too much / tired.  So on a day when the weather initially seemed uncertain, we jumped aboard route A for the Hop on Hop off bus and headed out into the mayhem that is the Napoli traffic where it was every van, car and scooter for the selves. I think it's bes...
Read more