ANIMAL FARM

“Director Ivan Heng has scored a new triumph with his highly enjoyable and thought-provoking Singaporean update of George Orwell’s classic satire, Animal Farm... Four legs good, your two legs better go and see!”

The Straits Times

“… this is an excellent production and one that any Singaporean (or Singaporean resident) should catch - whether they have yet read the book or not… Heng also does marvellous work with the sterling ensemble cast. Everyone deserves applause, especially in how they metamorphosise from one animal to the next, six actors bringing to life an entire farmyard of creatures. It is physically demanding work but they pull it off with style.”

The Flying Inkpot

“Wooldridge’s adaptation is, in fact, thoroughly admirable. It tells its story with economy, energy and drive. There’s almost no fat on this script, and yet it remains quite loyal to Orwell’s text… The Wild Rice production was, if anything, even more admirable. This show was splendidly theatrical, infused with energy and power, dynamically paced and well-acted. Ivan Heng, taking on the director’s duties here, made a number of key decisions that proved absolutely correct for this production.”

Quarterly Literary Review Singapore

“Wild Rice’s dramatic processing of [Animal Farm] did justice to the resonating allegory of how Mad Power Disease can affect animals of all stripe, colour and creed... the pace of the play was fairly sizzling. Fine acting from the cast of veteran actors, comic timing and apt dramatisation sparked the audience's imagination."

The Business Times

“The most brilliant coup pulled off by Singaporean theatre icon Ivan Heng in his direction of George Orwell’s depressing political fable Animal Farm is his sheer refusal to be depressing… Heng's direction is masterful on many levels. The creative lateral thinking, the faultless pacing, and the subversive way he lets the audience laugh at their own defeat.”

Kakiseni.com (Malaysia)

“With six well-matched and amazingly flexible actors and a marvellous percussionist who occasionally joins in the action on stage, Ivan Heng’s robustly physical production blows away any cobwebs that you may feel have been covering the work that has been so often staged and filmed before.”

The Dominion Post (New Zealand)

“In this sublime interpretation… the animals are created not by fancy costumes but by the human body, reminding us that the line that Napoleon and his pigs choose to cross is an ultra-fine one… This production is a delight, seamlessly blending contemporary satire with genuine tragedy… An unforgettable production and a Festival highlight.”

The Capital Times (New Zealand)

“A vivid, satisfying and excellent production. I loved it.”

Radio New Zealand