Tickets are now on sale for Pocklington Senior School’s production of Animal Farm, a physical adaptation of George Orwell’s novel starring pupils and staff.
A cast drawn from Sixth Formers, Fifth Year and Fourth Year pupils is rehearsing hard for what Alan Heaven, Head of Drama and Theatre Studies, calls “a brutal adaptation with contemporary relevance.”
The Tom Stoppard Theatre will become a farmyard full of mud and steel, with the energy and physicality of the characters providing sharp contrast to their harsh environment.
Headmaster Mark Ronan and History teacher Adam Hall fought off tough opposition to take key roles in the production, which will run from 21-23rd November.
Mr Heaven said the decision to include staff members in the cast reflected the sense of community at Pocklington School.
He added: “Drama, in particular, offers a place where everyone can come together on equal terms. In rehearsal there isn’t time for separation, only for hard work – and in an ensemble play like this the only way forwards is working together without fear or hesitation.”
Mr Ronan plays Mr Jones, the owner of Manor Farm, and Mr Hall plays Old Major, the animal who inspires the revolution. “Both required actors to be somehow different from the animals. Adults were perfect and both of them are excellent,” said Mr Heaven.
The adaptation depicts a world of mud, blood and tyranny as the corrupting influence of power sees revolutionary idealism quashed by another dictatorship. Music adds to the heightened atmosphere, with songs of the oppressed, the true believers and the subjugated.
The production has modern relevance, says Mr Heaven, with nods to Donald Trump’s proposed wall across Mexico; the rise of far right and far left groups; migration; dictatorships; modern slavery; tribalism; and the power of articulate educated people to control the inarticulate and under-educated.
Mr Heaven added: “It’s all about power: those who take it and those who allow it to be taken. The animals start in hope and rise against tyranny. But what happens after that is a cruel and terrible truth.”
Seating for the performance, in the Tom Stoppard Theatre, is more restricted than usual and early booking is recommended for all three nights 21st -23rd November. The play is not suitable for young children and will run without an interval from 7.30pm to approximately 9pm. Tickets, which are priced at £5.00 each, are available from the box office or alternatively, please download a booking form here