The Slovak Theater in Uherské Hradiště wants to reflect current events through a new production of Animal Farm. The famous allegory of the British writer George Orwell about the totalitarian regime was dramatized and directed by Dodo Gombár. The premiere takes place this Saturday, with the next repeats on October 31 and again on November 4.
George Orwell wrote his satirical novel, or fable about the Russian Revolution and the Stalinist dictatorship, during the Second World War. It was released in August 1945. According to director Dod Gombár, its current adaptation reflects the reality of the 21st century. “It carries within it a rather demanding turbulence of the times and we see it all around. And thus Orwell becomes a kind of prophetic author again. So already with the dramatization I tried to bring a kind of imprint of our present, our current days,” explains Gombár.
According to him, specific figures of the then autocratic regimes can be traced in the text. “Of course, great timeless works carry a universal message, and this is also the case with Animal Farm. It can be said that at any time you are able to key and decipher something that resonates with you,” the director notes. He mentions, for example, the usurpation of power by those who consider themselves elite, or the ideas of despotism and unfreedom. “We don’t have to go far, it’s present in my native Slovakia these days,” adds the fifty-one-year-old theater actor originally from Trnava.
In Orwell’s work, the animals on Mr. Jones’ farm rebel against the humans and establish their own order. The new mode seems great at first. Gradually, however, it becomes clear that although all animals are supposed to be equal, some are more equal. With the help of dogs, Napoleon the pig takes power and through demagoguery subjugates others who do not realize that they are worse off than ever.
The director in Uherské Hradiště entrusted the role of Napoleon to Lukáš Matěj. “He is the most treacherous little pig out of the three, who should go through a gradual development from a master in the background to one who controls everything when he finds out that he can. He does not take napkins with anything at all,” describes Matěj.
Jitka Hlaváčová will appear on stage as the easily manipulated Rooster Jojo. “In our production, the rooster snorts cocaine. So they wrap him around their finger to do what they want for them. The rooster doesn’t realize it at all. It dawns on him at the end that he’s completely succumbed to the manipulation and didn’t realize what wrong he’s been doing all along ,” explains the actress.
Almost the entire ensemble of the Slovak Theater performs in the Animal Farm. Also, for example, Pavlína and Jiří Hejcman, Tereza Novotná, David Vaculík, Zdeněk Trčálek, Pavel Šupina or Petra Staňková will present themselves. The stage was created by Lucie Žilák Labajová, the costumes were by Linda Holubová, the music was composed by Jakub Krajíček, and Linda Caridad Fernandez Saez was in charge of movement collaboration. Iva Šulajová took charge of the dramaturgy, the theater actors used Pavel Gössel’s translation.
The Animal Farm will appear on the Hungarian stage for the second time. It was first performed here in 1993, directed by Igor Stránský.