Animal Farm: It Was No Longer Known Who Was a Pig and Who Was a Human

By Maja Bajrić

The Animal Farm, as interpreted by the young Sarajevo acting ensemble at the Sartre Theatre, is, to say the least, something truly worth watching. However, subjectively, I would say it is simply excellent.

They did not spare themselves in their performance, and I honestly wonder that there were no actual physical injuries due to the very realistic portrayal of conflict scenes. Passionate and convincing, the heartfelt performance inevitably impresses the audience.

However, the most fascinating fact is that every actor and actress knew every role by heart and was able to play any role in Animal Farm fluently and convincingly. And, let's be clear, there are many roles.

The play actually begins with the audience deciding who will play which role. This is achieved by each performer introducing themselves to the audience and explaining why they believe they would be ideal for that role, and the audience, using bells given at the entrance, expresses their support or disapproval. The loudness of all these simultaneously ringing bells is measured by a decibel meter, and the loudest noise ensures the assignment of the role. The bells are miniature versions of cowbells, and the sound already draws the audience into the atmosphere of the animal farm. The stage is authentic and excellent in its simplicity – the actors are in the mud the entire time.

Through an interesting combination of serious, poignant, and comical performance, elements of a musical and sound and light support are interwoven, which certainly makes an interesting play even more interesting.

A special bonus is that in several digressions, a parallel is drawn with the current political and social situation in our country. It is quite funny, and at other times sad, that a play written in 1945 as a satirical critique of totalitarian communism fits so well into the description of this and our current system.

Hardworking and honest horses who, before retirement and after their functionality ends, are sold to the slaughterhouse, cute pinschers whose puppies, through systematic brainwashing, become beasts devoid of individuality and empathy, harmless chickens whose eggs are cashed in before they have even cooled in the nest, and a workforce devoid of any perspective and ambition, sheep, we must not forget... the lower class of society, whose uprising and struggle for a better life is just an illusion, and a reason for the mocking grunts of the upper class who mask every exploitative and humiliating act with the guise of impudent and daring arrogance, which, they know, will have no consequences for their rank and comfort as long as the public believes that everything they do, they do voluntarily and in the name of a higher cause. However, all animals are equal. Only, some are more equal than others.