George Orwell’s political allegory was an attempt to expose the Soviet myth, using animals to parody their Russian counterparts.

Transferring the novel to the stage poses a hard challenge and the Southwick Players and their Youth Group make a creditable job of it.

Director Tony Bright and his team are inventive in their interpretation and staging. Animals are merely suggested by minimal costuming and realistic body movements. Action takes place on stage and the floor of the theatre. However, the latter does get overcrowded at times with noise levels blocking out dialogue.

Performances can be summed up by paraphrasing Orwell’s maxim: All the actors are excellent but some are more excellent than others.

For the baddies, Geoff Marshall makes a menacing Napoleon, ruthless from the start. As Squealer, minister of misinformation, Ron Common turns on the slime, bamboozling the animals with never-ending statistics.

There are three particularly fine performances: Debbie Creissen’s crotchety old donkey produces much laughter; Candy White as Clover, the horse who questions the actions of the ruling pigs; and Matt Grant, the hard-working Boxer. He excels in stylised mime when building the windmill and in the powerful scene where he is led off to the knacker’s yard.