About the Animal Farm Play

Difference Between Play and Novel - There were quite a few differences between the play and novel. There were characters in the book that the play did not include, like Muriel, Minimus and the cat. In the Novel, it was said that Boxer had a split hoof, however, in the play, it was never mentioned that Boxer was injured. The way the 7 Commandments were changed were also different. In the Novel, the 6th Commandment was changed to " No animal shall kill any other animal without reason " from " No animal shall kill any other animal ". However, in the play, it was changed to " No animal shall kill any other animal without cause ". On top of that, there was no mention that there was no work on Sundays in the play, when the book included that portion. Also, in the book, it was mentioned that the barley that was cooked was to be stirred only into the pigs' mash. However, there was no mention of the barley in the play. Finally, in the Novel, it was always Muriel who helped Clover read out any of the Seven Commandments when she suspected that the pigs had broken that commandment. However, in the play, it was always Benjamin who helped Clover with the reading of any of the Seven Commandments.

Most memorable character - The most memorable character from my point of view is Squealer. How the actress of Squealer put across her actions to the audiences was entertaining. Example, when the animals doubted that Snowball was helping Jones during the Battle of the Cowshed, when she flashed a piece of 'evidence' and exclaimed," Jones's shot only grazed him! I could show you this in his own handwriting if you can read it. " Then she flashed a piece of paper in front of the animals for less than a second (No one would actually have the chance to read it contents!). How she managed to convince all the animals using her entertaining excuses, and all the sneaky actions that she does makes her an entertaining character, and thus, she would be the most memorable character for me.

Compare and Contrast (most similar and different character to the Novel in the play) - In my opinion, the most similar character to the Novel in the play is Napoleon. The Napoleon in the play was as selfish and bossy as that described in the book. However, the animal that is most different from that of the book would be Squealer. Although I mentioned that Squealer is the most memorable character in the play, the Squealer in the play is also the most different from the Novel. Squealer, as described in the book, is supposed to be skipping around when explaining to the animals. However, the Squealer in the play did not do so.

Sentences that Characterize the main animals:
Boxer - I will work harder!
Clover - I love everybody, I care for everyone.
Moses - Afterlife is good.
Mollie - The grass is always greener on the other side.
Benjamin - Nobody has seen a dead donkey.
Napoleon - I am always right!
Squealer - Napoleon would always be right.


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My own review
- The play of animal farm is about a group of animals who decides to overthrow their master and manage the farm on their own under the leadership of the smarter pigs. When their master was finally kicked out, Napoleon and Snowball starts the fight for the position of the leader. Napoleon emerges as a winner and starts to carve out his own small empire and makes the rest of the animals work for him.

The casts of the Animal farm play acted as their characters very well, and some of them even had to act as different characters and change to act as another animal within seconds. They are talented and were convincing. They portrayed the right characteristics of the animals they were acting as. Napoleon was as wicked, Squealer was as convincing, Boxer was as loyal and hardworking, Clover was as motherly, Mollie was as vain and Benjamin was as cynical. No one who watches the play would feel disappointed.

On top of that, there was a live percussionist who went on stage during the storm and created rhythmic beats by hitting different parts of the set on stage. It definitely was interesting.

The use of the air-conditioning ducts which symbolized the continuously building of the windmill left many students amazed at how it could rise up by itself. The play had allowed us understand the story better with the visual scene right in front of us, and it proved to be quite entertaining, fun and enriching for us.