Animal Farm (2015)
“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
Our first ever show in Brighton Fringe needed to rock Brighton! Naturally, we chose Orwell’s classic story of revolution and fascism, and told it with an all female cast to rave reviews!
Performed in may 2015, ThirdSpace (then Windmill Young Actors) was barely a few years old. This was our first public performance and we wanted to encapsulate the themes we stood for. While the story has often been co-opted by right-wing groups – most notably by the CIA in their 1954 anti-communist propaganda film – Orwell was a staunch socialist and anti-fascist, and those ideas are clear as day in the story. Director Tanushka Marah wanted to re-highlight those elements, celebrating the spirit of revolution and mourning its descent into fascism in the play.
With an all-female cast, the ideas of revolt against the status quo was made even more prevalent in the plot. Left-wing feminist themes have been central to many of our productions since: Agamemnon explored female sexuality, Thirteen drew heavily from The Handmaid’s Tale, to name two. Beginning our foray into public performance with this all-female revolutionary story has set ThirdSpace as a feminist powerhouse. It also set the stage for many of our incredible female performers who have come to shape the company in later productions. Eight years later and Zoe Alexander, who played Boxer, worked as an assistant director and writer on another of our revolutionary stories, BAKKHAI! Many of the other stellar female performers have gone on to drama school, and are now creating their own solo work, deconstructing and reshaping the modern narratives.