Cast: 11m., 7w. (fewer with doubling.) This musical begins as a young boy takes the novel Animal Farm from his bookshelf and sits by his toy barnyard to read. While he does so, the barnyard becomes an imaginative set in which the barnyard animals seek to take over control of the yard, as they feel they will have a better life without the interference of the farmer. Their quest for this new life soon leads them to establish a totalitarian microcosm in which some animals are far more equal than others. This Orwellian musical works remarkably well because, as one critic put it, "…the scale exactly matches the subject: what we get is not an epic truncated but an allegory visualized, with much of the narrative weight being carried by Adrian Mitchell's lyrics and Richard Peaslee's subtly responsive music." This is truly a show for all ages…with something of substance at every level. Flexible set. Orchestration available.