Machines | ANIMAL FARM

ANIMAL FARM: a fairy story... as Orwell himself described it, was conceived as a direct commentary on Josef Stalin's systematic abuse of the ideals of Communism. Yet, at first look, the allegory itself is rather British. The farm and its animals are obviously typically British and the fable has a distinctively British traditionalism, liberalism and decency in its essence... yet its message touches upon key elements of contemporary affairs and political anxieties all over the world. Just after Animal Farm was published in 1945, post-war Britain elected the Atlee Labour government with its application of Welfare State legislation and was coming to terms with a new, weaker position in the world. Stalin was slowly being exposed as a ruthless dictator and, through Animal Farm, Orwell, a disillusioned Socialist himself, was merely attempting to persuade British liberals about Stalin's real nature. The events of the book were specifically arranged to mirror those evident in Stalin's betrayal of the Soviet peoples and can easily be shown to do so. More importantly, the book was also an indictment of the processes and dangers of power, and the methods and machinery that a modern state can bring to bear in its pursuit; the double-speak and propaganda, the lies, threats, coercion, corruption, oppression... the "sleaze" and the "spin", as its leaders fight to perpetuate themselves against the interests of those who they are supposed to serve. Thus, when Animal Farm is taught in schools simply as an allegory on the Russian Revolution - or more generally as "anti-communist" - it actually goes against what Orwell stood for. Orwell shared a common hope that a social democratic revolution would be capable of transforming society into a "caring sharing nation", but he worried also that those who should benefit from such revolutions too often end up as the victims. Indeed he explained: "I meant the moral to be that revolutions only reflect a radical improvement when the masses are alert and know how to chuck out their leaders as soon as the latter have done their job..." Perhaps the "revolution" that occurred in Britain over the last 60 years was one of consumerism and "entrepreneurial plenty" at the expense of those less able than others. And perhaps Orwell's message to us in Britain is that, even there, where we live in relative harmony, we must be alert to the dangers of the power seekers and the aware of the promises they spout to perpetuate their power. In Britain, with their adversarial system of government, the power-garnering can't happen in large "Napoleonic" doses, but in small spoonfuls, where each is made easier to swallow by the petty, sugary machinations of party politics... It's harder to detect but the end result can be the same. I have performed by solo version of ANIMAL FARM over 1000 times all over the world. I have deliberately included subtle references to local scandals and corruptions so that the narrative is made more topical. When presented with the opportunity to present the work in Georgia, the state that gave us, for its sins, Josef Stalin and Josef Beria, the two main inspirations behind the characters of Napoleon and Squealer, such parallels were not required. Georgia's membership of the former Soviet Union is relevant enough and its recent history since Glasnost has been notoriously turbulent. The people here know all about corruption. There is no need to add topical references. The pairing of this particular story with this particular theatre company creates a very special energy. Powerful, potent and poignant. The shame of Stalin still rankles here and the fragility of its fledgling democracy - nestled uncomfortably between Europe and Putin's Russia is always in evidence. Over here, they do not play Animal Farm, they live it.