FAARM ANIMAAL
FILM-PERFORMANCE HYBRID | EXPANDED CINEMA
AUSTRIA, 2022, GERMAN/ENGLISCH | 85 MIN
SCREENPLAY: TOVE STILLE | DIRECTOR: TOMAS SCHWEIGEN
PREMIERE 19.NOVEMBER 2022 @ SCHAUSPIELHAUS WIEN
STORY
The only good human being is a dead one.
People who live as animals on an abandoned farm: A quirky social utopia that, after an initial spell of harmony, begins to tilt gradually off balance. George Orwell’s political fable Animal Farm provides the inspiration for an uncanny, darkly humorous meta-ride through shifting layers of perception and meaning: FAARM ANIMAAL moves playfully between film, theatre and performance, circling around animal perspectives, human viewpoints – and the question of where it all might lead.
The project consists of a 20-minute short film and a 65-minute live performance with the ensemble of Schauspielhaus Wien.
AWARDS
Nestroy Award 2023 BEST DIRECTOR
Tomas Schweigen (one half of Tove Stille) was awarded the prestigious Austrian Theatre Prize for Best Director. FAARM ANIMAAL was also nominated for the Nachtkritik Theatre Meeting and appeared in several “Best of 2022” lists.
JURY STATEMENTS
It was the surprise of last autumn’s theatre season: With Faarm Animaal, director and Schauspielhaus Wien artistic director Tomas Schweigen hit the mark on every level. Loosely inspired by George Orwell’s fable, this new piece tells the story of a society striving to shed old habits – indeed, to transcend its own humanity in order to become more like animals. During a workshop on a remote farm, seven people experience their rude awakening as they attempt to live together socially as animals.
In a simple yet striking way, Schweigen interweaves the exterior world of the farm (shown as film) with the everyday life of the workshop inside (live performance). The two worlds are connected by an oversized cat flap with a magnificent swinging sound. The production moves along a tragicomic tightrope between slapstick and melancholy, portraying people in their desperate attempt to unlearn behaviours – and revealing how, despite all efforts, they cannot escape their own skins. An excellently realised concept of script and direction that, with great lightness, wrestles with weighty ideas.
– Jury statement for the Nestroy Award "Best Director" 2023
In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, animals become human in their struggle against humans. In Faarm Animaal (the mysterious proliferation of “a” already poses the first riddle), humans wish to become animals. Self-critique and improvisation games pave the way. The story – based on research into the fascinatingly complex (and fraught) relationship between humans and animals – is wonderfully strange. The fact that the production makes no attempt whatsoever to explain what on earth, in the name of a cuckoo or a seal, is actually going on opens up tremendous scope for the ensemble and rich spaces of thought for the audience. Film and stage interact beautifully, and the evening lingers long after. And it is wildly funny as well.
– Jury statement for the nomination for “nachtkritik Theatre Meeting 2023”
REVIEWS
“A direct hit: brilliant dramaturgy, outstanding moments — a superbly conceived work of text and direction. Magnificent theatre.” Der Standard
“An unusually successful and highly amusing interplay of film and performance.” Wiener Zeitung
“A real coup: a thoughtful, entertaining and intensely comic piece. One leaves with mysteries — and deep satisfaction." Falter
“The entire evening flies by — intelligent in the most unobtrusive way. A finale of tender hope.” Nachtkritik
“A smart transfer of Orwell’s critique of distorted socialism into an entertaining critique of capitalism.” Austrian Press Agency APA
“Impressive: even in difficult times, Schweigen fills his theatre with young audiences. ‘Faarm Animaal’ shows how.” Kurier
CREDITS
CAST SIMON BAUER, VERA VON GUNTEN, JESSE INMAN, CLARA LIEPSCH, SOPHIA LÖFFLER, SEBASTIAN SCHINDEGGER, TIL SCHINDLER
DIRECTOR TOMAS SCHWEIGEN
SCREENPLAY TOVE STILLE (TOMAS SCHWEIGEN AND VERA VON GUNTEN)
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY MICHAEL SCHINDEGGER
EDITING DANIEL RUTZ
PRODUCTION DESIGN & SET STEPHAN WEBER
COSTUMES, MASKS & GRAPHICS GIOVANNA BOLLIGER
MUSIC MARTIN GANTENBEIN
SOUND BENJAMIN BAUER, CHRISTOPH PICHLER
LIGHTING OLIVER MATHIAS KRATOCHWILL
COLOUR GRADING ANDI WINTER
PRODUCTION SOUND JAKOB KLINGEBIEL
SOUND DESIGN BENJAMIN BAUER, JÓN GEIRFINSSON
PIANO RECORDING KEN MALLOR
DRAMATURGY HANNAH SALENTINIG
CHOREOGRAPHY & ASSISTANT DIRECTOR MELINA PAPOULIA
