Animal Farm | Australian Arts Review

A revolution betrayed, a community divided, and the slow creep of tyranny disguised as equality. This May, MUST presents Animal Farm as a raw, unflinching examination of power, propaganda, and the moment ideals become alibis.

George Orwell’s Animal Farm is renowned as a timeless allegory of power, corruption, and revolution. Tatty Hennessy’s adaptation of the iconic 1945 novella “bears resonances of the here and now” (The Guardian) and interrogates the seduction of modern authoritarianism through a distinct 21st-Century lens.

For director Max Pickering; “Animal Farm confronts inaction.” Pickering brings the creativity and excitement that MUST is praised for: “MUST, creates astonishing and powerful work that consistently punches way above its weight and acts as an incubator for some of our most important emerging theatre artists.” (Australian Arts Review)

He has been employing Tanya Gerstle’s Pulse methodology in rehearsal, building a dynamic and physical ensemble performance. Stripping away the innocence of a beast fable, this production offers a grotesque and unwavering exploration of how a community can curdle into tyranny.

With a stark set and bold lighting, the audience is thrust into an undefined, oppressive space, no longer a simple farm, but a world that feels unsettlingly close to our own.

Here, we bear witness to the pigs’ gradual descent into greed and their violent consolidation of power. Revolution. Order. Autocracy. Slaughterhouse. Long Live Animal Farm!

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

Director: Max Pickering | Featuring: Lucas Lines, Adrian Salter, Nethuli Bandara, Ruby Akinsanya, Jada-Li Crossey, Francesca King, Eve Basten, Abbie McLeish, Esmé Stripp, Thimuthu Dassanayake, Lucy Fraser, Patrick Leong, Will Beechey | Production Manager: Leanne Leong | Set Designer: Penny McNeill | Costume Designer: Sachiko Metzner | Lighting Designer: Caitlin Begg | Sound Designer & Composer: Alex Aidt | Hair and Makeup Designer: Esmé Stripp | Assistant Director: Marcus Leder | Dramaturg: Eleanor Cooney