Director Kate Ross Talks About The Process Of Adapting Animal Farm
Animal Farm – From Classic Tale to Compelling Youth Theatre
The process of creating this production of Animal Farm actually began back in September 2024, and there have been a multitude of steps between then and now. It is often the unseen side of theatre, and yet the most crucial.
The Choice
When I was first asked to direct the 2025 Senior Youth Theatre production, my first thought was ‘What should we do?’. It had to be something that would appeal to an audience, something that was practically feasible to put on, and, most importantly to me, something that would engage and challenge the Senior Youth Theatre members. For them to want to do the title and to have true ownership of it had to be foremost in any decision. The cast is incredibly engaged in world events and also exceptionally talented so would need to be pushed. I had set-designed, and stage managed a production of Animal Farm years ago and felt that it would fit this cast perfectly. As Orwell stated about the book; “Animal Farm was the first book in which I tried, with full consciousness of what I was doing, to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole”. Once the cast had heard the initial remit of the story and explored some of the themes within it – oppression, revolution, hope, control – they were sold on it, and so the next part of the process could begin.
The Writing
Writing a new adaptation of classic pieces can be seen as daunting, but it’s actually very liberating. It enables you to ask key questions and pick and choose content dependent on the answers. The group asked ‘what do we want the audience to get out of it?’, ‘how much do we want to lean into animalism?’, ‘how much of Orwell’s original dialogue do we want to use?’, ‘we know it’s relevant but do we want to be overt with modern references?’, and this really informed the direction we then took the text in. Researching other stage adaptations also really helped. We actually held auditions ahead of the writing too – as a writer, as well as hitting the criteria we want the audience to get, it’s also really important to me that I write to the strengths of the actors that I have playing those parts – are they more vocal or physical, large with performance or nuanced? It all has a bearing on making sure that the story is told to the best of everyone’s ability, and each performer has an opportunity to shine.
Characterisation and Staging
Once the script was in place the creative process could really start. The cast have been incredible at profiling their characters and analysing not just how they think, but also, how they move, how they speak. The result is that each character has an authenticity and depth to it. We also made the decision to use some of the characters in slightly different ways – so some return as narrators for example, very deliberately to echo potentially opposing views that the audience may have to events. Aside from seeing the natural creativity of the cast, another joy of the process was getting external practitioners in to work with them. We were lucky enough to have ensemble workshops with Fourth Monkey, stage combat workshops with Lydia Fitzwilliams and animal movement workshops with Rees Matthews. Every aspect of these were amazing, as they not only enhanced cast experience, but also the quality of the final show.
Bringing The Vision To Life
In the latter stages of the process, we started to think about how we can bring every element to life, to give the piece the grit and energy that we want to audience to experience from it. That involves a huge team of people working hard behind the scenes; our marketing team, stage managers, set and costume designers, lighting and sound designers, production managers, vocal coaches… the list goes on! And again, the young people have been involved in every aspect of this – it is their vision, and as much as every adult they work with inspired them, they have likewise inspired us back.
I hope this write-up has shown that the process behind this year’s production of Animal Farm has been more than simply ‘putting on a play’. It has been about enabling an empowered and passionate group of young actors to have a voice and really say something. I hope that the audience will support every inch of that ethos, and leave having felt that they too are a part of something very special.
Book your tickets for our Senior Youth Theatre’s adaptation of Animal Farm!
