The cast of Animal Farm, the theater department’s (Grace Jurchak/The Gettysburgian)
By Leah Nath, Staff Writer
Gettysburg College’s theater arts department closed its last performance of “Animal Farm” on Oct. 27 over parents’ weekend in Kline Theater. The show, adapted from George Orwell’s novel of the same name, was directed by film actress Trazana Beverley.
Trazana Beverley directing. (Grace Jurchak/The Gettysburgian)
Orwell’s novel follows the story of “Manor Farm,” run by Mr. Jones (Brant Miller ’27) until the animals of the farm revolt against his negligence to take over the farm for themselves. Ren Mirenda ’26 narrates the progression of the animals navigating their free sovereignty, which begins by establishing equality amongst animals and commandments to ensure that they will remain separate from the corruptible qualities of man. The commandments, slightly humorously, suggest that it is luxury (clothes, beds, alcohol) and cruelty (killing, consuming without producing) that define humanity.
(Grace Jurchak/The Gettysburgian)
The farm’s pigs, learning to read and write quicker than the other animals, establish the farm’s rules, taking control of rationing and work schedules until their inter-disputes cause trouble. Napoleon (Hayden Johnston ’25) and Squealer (Paige Drummond ’28) end up running Snowball (Md Rubaitul Ahsan Rhythm ’28), the radical progressive of the animals, off the farm with trained dogs.
This conflict begins a spiral of following events where Napoleon asserts his dominance and power in increasingly aggressive ways, finally concluding with his complete transformation into a near-identical human, standing on two legs in clothing, drunk and friendly with other human farmers. Other actors who contributed to the production of this show include Max Kuhn ’25, Andrew Wilson ’28, Jamilynne McCabe ’25, Addison Journey ’28, Hudson Podielsky ’28, Katie Poliero ’25, Stephanie Sol ’27, Nina Sgro ’25, Grace Aulicino ’28, Ellie Mandelberg ’27, Skylar Scott ’28, Kazmira Maney ’28 and Paz Tamayo ’28.
Napoleon’s Transformation (Grace Jurchak/The Gettysburgian)
The story’s plot is built on social commentary, originally an allegory for Stalin’s reign over the Soviet Union after the Russian Revolution of 1917 which is represented by Napoleon’s manipulation of the farm’s collectivist ideals into a dictatorial system. In the show’s program, Beverley notes that the allegory of the plot, while written about Stalin and the Russian Revolution also, “tells us a lot about every government and serves as a cautionary tale about the preservation of democracy and freedom.”
Built on heavy thematics, the Owl and Nightingale Players embodied the sinister nature of the plot by leaning into discomforting aesthetics. Acting is an inherently uncomfortable skill to attempt due to its requirement of vulnerability in front of a crowd and is made more difficult the farther away from natural human expression the role is.
Miller commented after the final performance, saying it was a “demanding and difficult show, but I gained a lot of experience and knowledge from it.”
(Grace Jurchak/The Gettysburgian)
This cast managed to commit to their animalistic roles impressively, emitting various neighs, screams, and cackles throughout the show. Audience member Emerson Rodriguez ’26 commented, “They did an excellent job incorporating the animal noises to support the plot.”
At the climax of Napoleon’s seizing of true dominance, he stands atop the rest of the cast in the manor’s upper-level window, Johnson’s pig squeals of laughter beginning to resemble shrieks of pain as the facade of democracy truly falls. As a unit, the cast and crew excelled at creating an atmosphere of purposeful discomfort with their primal noises, drum and strings tone-making, chanting and red-themed lighting.
This article was updated to correct the spelling of a student’s name.
