Theatre review: Astonishing puppets, flat storytelling in The Finger Players’ take on Animal Farm

Animal Farm

The Finger Players
Drama Centre Theatre
May 15, 4pm 

The best thing about The Finger Players’ adaptation of Animal Farm, English author George Orwell’s classic 1945 novella, is Loo An Ni’s astonishing puppets. 

Each operated by a single puppeteer, the exo-skeletons with just masks and feet to identify the individual animal characters are a marvel of inventive construction. Especially impressive are

the four-legged puppets, which usually would have taken at least two operators to manoeuvre

around the stage. 

The technical polish of this staging is not in doubt, with a clever onstage sequence of the farm’s vaunted windmill being built by the animals. But this straightforward adaptation, commissioned for the Singapore International Festival of Arts (Sifa), also feels flat, with some character arcs getting short shrift with the need to condense the cast for a more manageable staging. 

Some of this can be attributed to the source material. Orwell’s story is a political allegory in which characters are representations of political positions rather than fully fleshed personalities. 

The animals on Mr Jones’ Manor Farm decide to rebel against the drunken farmer.

The successful rebellion is followed by a brief period of freedom, which soon ends when bullying pig Napoleon (Ric Liu) chases out idealistic pig Snowball (Rachel Nip), and takes over as self-appointed supreme leader. He is aided in his rise by Squealer (Tan Rui Shan), a porcine propagandist along the lines of German Nazi politician Joseph Goebbels. 

Some of Orwell’s animal characters are conflated – wise old donkey Benjamin (Yazid Jalil) inherits mare Mollie’s vanity about her ribbons, and the dogs Jessie and Bluebell (both played by Vanessa Toh) are mother and son rather than the progenitors of Napoleon’s feared canine security force. 

The species and names are clear signifiers in Orwell’s tale. What reads like powerful minimalist metaphors on the page, however, can look like simple caricatures on stage. And unfortunately, this is true here.

Writer-director Oliver Chong, who is capable of sophisticated, nuanced theatrecraft, seems more preoccupied here with staging the beats of the story than exploring the heart of the tale.

The first 30 minutes feel rushed as the set-up pelts through the rebellion and the characters. Squealer has the meatiest speeches, delivered with winning guile by Tan, as he literally rewrites Napoleon’s crimes. But there is no sense of why Squealer is so eager to do Napoleon’s dirty work, and Squealer’s eloquence also deprives Napoleon of airtime as he stands around waiting for Squealer to explain and defend him.

The hardworking and loyal horse Boxer (Darren Guo), and the rebellious hen Henna (Jo Kwek), who leads a short-lived revolt against Napoleon, are the two most fully formed story arcs. Yet, their tragic fates – Boxer is sold to a knacker, while Henna is starved and forced into a false confession – feel a tad perfunctory.

There are also some odd choices in the staging. For example, Mr Pilkington (Guo), a conflation of all the human collaborators working with the pigs, speaks with a Chinese accent that borders on offensive caricature. 

The Finger Players has demonstrated before that it is capable of making magnificent, subtle theatre. The company’s Oiwa – The Ghost Of Yotsuya (2021), also commissioned by Sifa, swept five The Straits Times Life Theatre Awards, including for Production of the Year.  

But this Animal Farm feels more like prep work for students studying the text rather than a deep dive, which is a pity as Orwell’s political satire is more relevant than ever in the age of American President Donald Trump and fake news.

Book it/Animal Farm

Where: Drama Centre Theatre, 03-01 National Library, 100 Victoria Street
When: May 16, 8pm; May 17, 4 and 8pm; and May 18, 4pm
Admission: From $48 
Info:

str.sg/oxSfc