Members of the Poshu Khamar cast with Saoli Mitra (right). Picture by Aranya Sen

They have changed the title from Animal Farm to Poshu Khamar ?but the rest is 100 per cent Orwell?, insists a spokesman for Pancham Vaidic about the play to premier on August 22 at the Academy of Fine Arts.

Dramatised by Arpita Ghosh, who had earlier translated Jean-Paul Sartre for Rajnaitik Hathya, this is meant to be a serious anti-establishment play. ?I have never understood how it can be considered a children?s play. The comedy is hardly funny, yet the only productions of Animal Farm so far have been animations and puppet shows made abroad,? says Arpita, who read the book while researching for Rajnaitik Hathya and nurtured the idea of turning it into a full-length play ever since.

?Orwell?s political novel has often been seen as anti-Communist, but I don?t think that is true,? says Saoli Mitra.

?The book is against all kinds of fascism and the situation described can be true whenever the hunger for power overshadows all other ideologies of a political party. It is so relevant to the contemporary times that we didn?t need to make any changes?. Politics should be a deeper quest than what we see today on the international scale. Things appear just as funny and ominous as they are in Animal Farm. Take the words ?War on Terror?; we have begun to unquestioningly accept whatever is repeated to us several times, just like the animals in Orwell?s book. How many of us have stopped to question why we need a war to stop terror? But we are like the animals in another way, we share their intense desire to survive at all costs,? explains Saoli, admitting that Animal Farm has long been one of her favourite books.

The location is still England in Poshu Khamar and names like Napoleon and Snowball remain the same ?because such a situation cannot be imagined on an Indian farm?, points out Arpita. The language is Bengali but the songs (direct translations of available passages) are set to Western tunes.

?The most difficult part after writing has been getting actors for the 40 characters in the play. We got them all from Pancham Vaidik, except Bohurupee?s Debotosh Ghosh, who is our most senior actor,? explains Arpita. There is no attempt to develop a realistic set or use elaborate costumes. The characters will act as horse and pig in ordinary clothes, adds Saoli.

So does this play mark a turnaround for the producers of Nathabati Anathabat and Katha Amritasaman? ?Of course not. We do no play unless we feel an intense need to do it. And we have never restricted ourselves to any particular kind of play. Right after Rajnaitik Hathya, we did Chandali and now this one,? says Saoli.