Tag Archives: Ciaran Bagnall

ANIMAL FARM

★★★

UK Tour

ANIMAL FARM

Rose Theatre

★★★

“There is much to admire, and the ideas are inspired”

The unnerving and overpowering effect of George Orwell’s novella, “Animal Farm” is how little has changed less than a century on from its publication in 1945. His biting political allegory was an unveiled attack on totalitarianism, more specifically Stalinism. We don’t need to look at history to wonder what Orwell would make of today’s leading political figures, nor do we need to rely on the Soviet-style, Communist regimes to appreciate the inspiration behind his writing. The popular graffiti slogan often seen on urban walls – ‘George Orwell was an optimist’ – is resonant today, and Ian Wooldridge’s current stage adaptation allies itself to that point of view.

Remaining faithful to the original it promises to pack a punch as we enter the grim, nightmare scenario. Metallic music throbs while surveillance cameras, perched on the vandalised, corrugated backdrop, watch us take our seats. Elements of sci-fi drift in as the harsh percussion gives way to hymnal, synthetic strings of a ‘brave-new-dawn’. A temporary reprieve, however, as those familiar with Orwell’s writing will know. Director Iqbal Khan’s production shares that sense of frustrated potential. There is much to admire, and the ideas are inspired. Ciarán Bagnall’s brutal set is more knacker’s yard than farm and the skeletal, lattice framed masks of the animals have a suitably dystopian quality. It is a shame though to spoil the effect with unnecessary gestures and playground animal noises.

Individual characterisation suffers, too, from an overreliance on provincial accents to distinguish the roles. Yet the performers are given plenty to get their teeth into and the commitment is unyielding, but it feels like they have been pushed too hard in one direction. Too many lines are shouted and even the quieter, reflective moments are over projected, as though the audience are either hard of hearing or primary school kids. Natalia Campbell’s ‘Old Major’ delivers a strong opening address that sets the scene, although the Queen Vic Cockney accent dampens the gravity. We expect a pub brawl rather than a revolution. ‘Napolean’, the chief pig whose tyranny replaces the tyranny that has been overthrown, is more precocious teenager than despot in Rhian Lynch’s hands. With Lewis Griffin’s streetwise ‘Squealer’ they rule the new regime with fake news, propaganda and an over-zealous trend of silencing dissidents. A chillingly familiar scenario. Soroosh Lavasani gives a more nuanced ‘Snowball’, the downtrodden rival to ‘Napoleon’, while Sam Black’s ‘Boxer’ – the silently-strong yet naively loyal work-horse – beckons our sympathy.

The nuances and the resonances are all in the writing. The execution, however, misses tricks and opportunities and a lot of the time we feel like we are being delivered a lecture. The setting, enhanced by Dylan Townley’s thrilling music and Gerry Marsden’s atmospheric sound design, promises the ‘fairy story’ that Orwell himself dubbed the novella. Quite why it should be considered a fairytale is open to debate, but a fable it definitely is. Khan’s production does indeed get all the points across, and we are given a stern warning about the recycling of history. Aesthetically it reproduces the story perfectly. The excessive exposition, however, obscures the general concept behind this production: a show that is plainly full of striking and thought-provoking ideas.

 

ANIMAL FARM

Rose Theatre then UK Tour continues

Reviewed on 4th February 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Pamela Raith

 

 


 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

NEVER LET ME GO | ★★★ | September 2024
SHOOTING HEDDA GABLER | ★★★★ | October 2023

ANIMAL FARMMAL FARM

NIMAL FARM

 

 

LIE LOW

★★★★

Royal Court Theatre

LIE LOW at the Royal Court

★★★★

“Charlotte McCurry’s Faye, and Thomas Finnegan’s Naoise perform a believably close pair of siblings, bound together by childhood games that seem innocent, until they’re not”

Ciara Elizabeth Smyth’s Lie Low arrives at the Royal Court’s Theatre Upstairs with plenty of trigger warnings. The company has also included a helpful guide on how to tackle a play that deals with trauma arising from sexual assault, should you need it. It’s true that Lie Low ventures into territory that might awaken all our darkest fears. But there’s also a lot of charm, humour and playful energy in Smyth’s script, and performers Charlotte McCurry and Thomas Finnegan make the most of their opportunities.

In Lie Low we are introduced to Faye, who has been unable to sleep since a terrifying home invasion. She invites her brother Naoise home to help her. Naoise, for some reason, has been reluctant to visit, and almost a year has passed before he finally arrives on her doorstep. In the meantime, Faye has been visiting doctors. Her life has become confined—and a discordant jumble of episodes of manic dancing with an enigmatic figure with a duck’s head that emerges sporadically from her mother’s wardrobe. Faye appears outwardly sane and in control to the current doctor she’s seeing, but it’s clear that, psychologically, she’s falling apart. She thinks her brother can help because he’s the only man she can trust. Using something called exposure therapy that Faye has found on the web, she invites Naoise to become the man who assaulted her so that she can confront him, and fight back. Understandably, Naoise is very reluctant to take on this role. We find that he has compelling reasons unrelated to Faye’s trauma, to resist her request.

 

 

Smyth has given us a great set up. As the play proceeds, and Faye and Naoise’s close sibling relationship unravels dance step by dance step, we respond with an uneasy mix of amusement and horror. And it’s not just the subject matter that brings such complicated reactions to the fore. There is something inherently untrustworthy about our protagonist. Faye’s troubled recollections of what actually happened on the night she was assaulted are echoed in Naoise’s recollections of their childhood. Who assaults, and who is assaulted? In Lie Low, the answer to this question is shrouded in ambiguity. Hazy recollections of childhood games, and later, drunken parties and their aftermath, take us further into the territory of unwanted questions and their messy answers.

Oisín Kearney’s direction and Ciaran Bagnall’s set and lighting heighten the feeling of ambiguity. There is irony in Bagnall’s strongly defined set—a carpet marking the playing space, and the brooding wardrobe at the back of the set. There’s also a standing lamp, but it’s small, and doesn’t illuminate much. Any light from the lamp is further obscured by a pair of Faye’s panties that are draped over the shade for much of the play. Sharp angles and light concealed—perfect metaphors for the drama that is unfolding before our eyes. Similarly, Charlotte McCurry’s Faye, and Thomas Finnegan’s Naoise perform a believably close pair of siblings, bound together by childhood games that seem innocent, until they’re not. McCurry’s Faye is in control—and it’s fascinating to watch how, in contrast, Finnegan’s Naoise comes undone. And that raises further unsettling questions about Faye’s trip into madness and insomnia, and the success of her return to sanity, and sleep.

At seventy minutes, Lie Low feels quite short. But there’s also a sense that there’s just enough material in this play to show the wisdom in calling it quits when it does. The energy of the performers keep it on track. They keep us focused from moment to moment. But there is something unrealized about Smyth’s script and the questions it raises. When the energy is gone, and the lights are out, what demons are still hiding in that wardrobe, waiting to emerge


LIE LOW at the Royal Court

Reviewed on 28th May 2024

by Dominica Plummer

Photography by Ciaran Bagnall

 

 

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

BLUETS | ★★★★★ | May 2024
GUNTER | ★★★★ | April 2024
COWBOIS | ★★★★★ | January 2024
MATES IN CHELSEA | ★★★ | November 2023
CUCKOO | ★★½ | July 2023
BLACK SUPERHERO | ★★★★ | March 2023
FOR BLACK BOYS … | ★★★★★ | April 2022

LIE LOW

LIE LOW

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