Blue Apple brings a fresh look at the classic story of Animal Farm to Theatre Royal Winchester in July with three live shows on stage at 7.30pm from Wednesday 12 to Friday 14 July and one livestream on Friday 14 July.
Nearly eighty years after George Orwell’s novel was published, this tale still teaches us all something about abuses of power and social justice.
George Orwell’s original story is about exploited animals who take over a farm and create a new society based on ideas of equality but then have to deal with domination by the pigs who take charge. Everyone will still recognise that story in Blue Apple’s new version of Animal Farm but it will have a lightness of touch that Blue Apple can bring to even the darkest of stories.
Yes, Napoleon the pig is still the trumped-up bully of the farmyard who turns everything to his own advantage. Of course, Boxer the horse is still the beating heart of the tale, always wanting to ‘work harder’. But expect a few surprises which come from Blue Apple’s unique blend of humour and heart – with the famous downbeat ending receives a Blue Apple re-working.
Richard Conlon, Blue Apple’s Artistic Director explains what Blue Apple is bringing to this production of Animal Farm: “Blue Apple likes to engage with some of the bigger themes – we do light-hearted entertainment in midwinter shows but we also do meaty stuff in the summer. We take traditional stories and we try to be true to the heart of them but we pull them apart a bit and put them back slightly differently.
“In Blue Apple’s Animal Farm the classic story remains the same – it’s about who is in charge of your life, my life, everybody’s life, and what our civic responsibilities are to each other – but it is slightly taken from a different perspective so there’s more wit, there’s a bit more humour and charm and warmth in what might otherwise be quite a dark tale. For example, we’ve put a George Michael joke into it and we’ve given the story a slightly different ending.
“In our version of Animal Farm, what we’ve done is to bring the author George Orwell in as a character reflecting on why the story finishes differently from his book. Orwell’s take on it was quite downbeat. But we introduce a little boost of positivity in the end.”
Tickets available in advance from theatreroyalwinchester.co.uk. Box office: 01962 840440.
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