Cleverly creative production of George Orwell’s Animal Farm will bring the infamous Napoleon, Snowball and Boxer fiercely to life at Blackpool Grand Theatre from Tuesday 19 to Saturday 23 April, thanks to the genius behind the legendary War Horse puppetry.

Internationally renowned puppet master Toby Olié (whose many credits include the National Theatre’s critically acclaimed War Horse) joins a truly talented team of prominent theatre professionals to expertly re-imagine Orwell’s famous political fable; including the multi-award-winning director Robert Icke (The Doctor, Hamlet, Oresteia, 1984) with stunning set design from four-time Olivier Award-winner Bunny Christie (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time).

In celebration of this exciting new adaptation of one of Orwell’s most celebrated works, The Grand is offering a closer look at the life and work of one of Britain’s most revered and controversial authors…

The History of George Orwell.

George Orwell (1903 – 1950) was a British novelist, essayist and critic best known for his novels Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, which are considered some of the 20th Century’s finest writing.  Orwell’s work notoriously addressed major political movements of his times, including Imperialism, Fascism and Communism.

George Orwell is the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair who was born in 1903 in Motihari in the Bengal region of India during the time of British colonial rule. His parents were British and they brought him back to England while he was still a child where his love for writing and sharing his opinions began. His gift for writing was evident from childhood with his first published work – the poem Awake Young Men of England, printed in the local Henley and South Oxfordshire Standard when he was just eleven years old. Orwell went on to attend the prestigious Eton College, where the socialist and liberal ideals that became a priority in his later life were first introduced to him. At the time, literature was not accepted as a subject for boys, so Orwell spent his time studying and learning from the master writers and developing his unique writing style.

In 1922, aged just nineteen, Orwell moved to Burma where he worked as an Assistant Superintendent in the Burma Police Force before his dislike and distaste for British Imperialism became too much. In 1928 he moved again to Paris – taking on a range of low-paying jobs, and this pattern followed when he returned to England, moving to London in 1929 and continuing in the habit of low paid work. His experiences during this time provided the inspiration for his first novel, Down and Out in Paris and London. It was at this point he also took on the pen name George Orwell, as he didn’t want to embarrass his family through his work. He chose the name George Orwell as it represented his lifelong appreciation for quintessentially English landscapes and traditions and after the river Orwell, which he loved to visit.

When the Second World War began in 1939 Orwell couldn’t fight due to his ill health and damaged lungs (he had first contracted pneumonia through tuberculosis in the early 1930s, which continued to haunt Orwell throughout his life with several hospitalisations) and so he spent some of those early years focused on essay writing. He kept a fascinating wartime diary and was involved in the Home Guard and wanted to promote its potential as a socialist body and revolutionary people’s militia.

In 1941, Orwell began working with the BBC to oversee broadcasting to India and Southeast Asia. Orwell openly disliked this job as it involved spreading British propaganda in the colonised states, which was in direct opposition to his political stance and natural opinions. He resigned from the BBC in September 1943 and moved onto a much more fitting position as literary editor at The Tribune. He also became war correspondent for the Observer, working both in Paris and Cologne.

Orwell’s writing career spanned over seventeen years and his most revered works are Animal Farm (published in 1945) and Nineteen Eighty-Four published in 1949. On November 7th, 2017, a statue of George Orwell was unveiled outside BBC’s Broadcasting House in London and is inscribed with words from an unused Animal Farm preface “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear”.

Blackpool Grand Theatre is thrilled to present a dynamic and daring take on the timeless story of Animal Farm this April from a gifted team of distinguished theatre professionals whose powerful production breathes exciting new life into George Orwell’s anti-utopian satire,

which looks at the world through the allegory of a farmyard.

‘All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others…’

Watch an exciting teaser trailer of Animal Farm:

George Orwell’s Animal Farm from Tuesday 19 April to Saturday 23 April 2022 with stunning puppetry from Toby Olié (National Theatre’s War Horse). Matinee and evening performances. Audio-described performance on Saturday 23 April at 2 pm.

Some strong language is not suitable for young children. General viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children, age guidance 11+

Please call the Box Office on 01253 290190 or visit www.BlackpoolGrand.co.uk for full listings, bookings and further information.