Shake & stir’s multiple-award-winning production of Animal Farm was adapted by co-artistic director Nick Skubij after he discovered a discarded copy of Orwell’s book lying on a dusty Cairns bookshelf five years ago and found it powerfully resonant.
Directed by the inimitable Michael Futcher, it has had hundreds of performances across Australia and as it returns to Brisbane, it begs the question ‘How did this young Queensland company end up creating a classic that sits so comfortably (twice) in Brisbane’s premier performance space, employing very fine actors and directors and composers and musicians and designers and looking brilliant all at the same time?’
This is the stuff that dreams are made of and the wonderful shake & stir has done it so quickly (they only formed in 2006), with such apparent ease and with such determination that my belief in our theatrical tradition is reawakened. I missed the first season of Animal Farm and so as soon as I knew it was returning, fronted up to find what all the fuss was about.
And now I know: here we have a bunch of energetic and precise actors, Ross Balbuziente, Tim Dashwood, Nelle Lee, Bryan Probets and Nick Skubij
who understand performance in the real sense of the word. Director Michael Futcher has a deep resonance with timing, space and relationship, the three elements that make up the complex world of performance. He is ably supported by musician, sound designer and composer Guy Webster, who continually stirs in me expectation and excitement; lighting designer Jason Glenwright, who creates pure magic; and stage designer Josh McIntosh, who creates a world that even after months on the road does not look like a touring set.
The set brilliantly transforms not only the horizontal, but also the vertical space, preparing me to consider multiple ways of viewing this performative experience. The lighting smudges the stage, creating a sense of expectation even with such a well-known plot.
I am expecting energy – this is a vibrant theatre company – but when it presents itself I am transformed. I am jumping with the actors, rolling in the mud, ploughing the fields. I am up there with them, in all their ugliness. This is not usual, not usual at all.
The highlights are in the precise adjustments that the actors make to animalise the humans and humanise the animals. Dashwood is a wonderful chook; Lee a marvelously coquette. Balbuziente is the reincarnation of my father’s draft horse, huge, gentle and full of perseverance and Skubij puppet-like Mr. Jones is scarily resonant. Every actor has their moment, in representing a different part of the human spirit.
The team works together with grace and expertise to create the story of idealism turned into fascism. Orwell’s simple fable is recreated in all its strength.
This is a company that will not be going away soon. They have intelligence, energy and talent. They have a steely determination to develop theatre that not only entertains but also provokes discussion and hopefully moves us all closer to deeper reflection on our own behaviours in the world.
4.5
Animal Farm is at Cremorne Theatre, Brisbane until 25 May.
