Santa Barbara High School partners with director Robert Rodarte from HappySad Theatre Company to present Ian Wooldridge’s adaptation of Animal Farm. Based on George Orwell’s novella, Animal Farm tells the story of a barnyard contingency who overthrows their human farmers and runs the farm themselves. This allegory was written as a satire of Russia’s early 20th-century revolution and the subsequent rise of totalitarianism.
The initial revolution promotes equality amongst the animals, but power is a corrupting influence. Senior Maria Butler plays Squealer, a pig who pushes propaganda in favor of fellow pigs vying for power. “Squealer is driven by her one goal of having total power over the farm,” says Butler. “She twists the truth and abuses the trust the other animals have given her.”
Senior Dragon Aditya plays Napoleon, another pig with designs on absolute authority. “When Orwell wrote Animal Farm in the height of WWII, he chose Napoleon to represent Stalin,” he says. “Napoleon starts with the best intentions … but gets corrupted into turning totalitarian and fascist, eventually considering the humans as friends.”
Animal Farm is traditionally part of the American high school curriculum, and these students are engaging with this dramatic text in a time when dictatorship is a hot topic in the political sphere.
“Animal Farm highlights issues that are very relevant today, and it encourages the audience to reflect on the world around them,” says 11th grader Esther Hernandez, who plays Clover the horse.
Butler adds, “These aren’t pigs, sheep, and horses, but a portrayal of men, women, and children that are suffering…. This show has so many moments that we can relate to our world today, and the injustices can be felt farther than the perimeters of our theater.” The production also incorporates puppetry, with puppets made by students in the SBHS sculpture class.
See Animal Farm October 23–November 1. See sbhstheater.com/tickets.
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