In each issue of D&T we bring you a page-to-stage focus on a play for performance with your students, written by someone who has directed it themselves. Here, Donna Steele introduces Orwell's famous Animal Farm
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Peter Hall's adaptation of George Orwell's allegorical novel was first staged at the National Theatre in 1984. Featured on GCSE English exam specifications, it also offers GCSE and A Level Drama pupils lots of potential for scripted performances as well as an excellent option that sits between a play and full scale musical.

The play starts with a schoolboy sitting down to read the novel by a toy farmyard. As he reads, the farmyard comes to life. The dialogue is accompanied by music by Richard Peaslee and lyrics by Adrian Mitchell. What starts as a cheery score transforms into something increasingly jarring and menacing.

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