TURNERS FALLS — Guests are invited to explore the world of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” set five generations after the rebellion in the book, during the fifth iteration of the “A Happening” performance series at the Shea Theater Arts Center.
Performances will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 31, and Saturday, Nov. 1.
“A Happening V: The Bestiary” is the latest theater performance and multimedia festival put on by Cloudgaze and Eggtooth Productions. The event is led by Co-Producer and Artistic Director K Adler, fellow Co-Producer Mo Schweiger and Director Sam Perry. This time, the floors of the Shea Theater will be transformed into an immersive art piece featuring close to 60 performers channeling source material from moral stories featuring animals into a plot that explores the lines of civility and ferocity.
Schweiger, who has been performing with “A Happening” since its second iteration, said the show issued an open call for actors, musicians and artists. Source material for this show includes “Animal Farm,” “Aesop’s Fables” and “The Nutcracker,” along with some new stories set within an Orwellian world. This year’s performances are funded through grants, including from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts.
To help bring out a festival-like feeling, Schweiger said the call for artists was for new and returning people who can engage with this event that will take place on three different floors of the Shea Theater.
“Through that general call, we found a lot of installation artists. We have some people who are building a swamp or a bog. We have a lot of dancers who are going to be sheep and/or chickens,” Schweiger said. “It’s really exciting to bring new people into the fold, in addition to the people we’ve worked with.”
These various artists will work within the general plot of “Animal Farm,” five generations after the rebellion against Farmer John. In this world, the pigs are the ruling class and are holding an open forum for the barnyard animals to share their grievances, which will be inside the main theater. For the first time, the pigs are inviting the “feral” animals to the forum, who all live in the lower level of the theater called the “Feral Forest,” and they must maintain decorum to participate. While being careful not to give anything away about the plot, Schweiger said there are “stirrings of rebellion” within the Feral Forest, and guests will see how this plays out during both shows.
As this is not a traditional stage play, guests are encouraged to engage with the entire set-up to see how the artists set themselves within this world. Schweiger noted the immersive nature gives guests options to engage with the scene around them.
When asked if the show reflects the state of social and political strife in the United States, as “Animal Farm” once did in its allegory of Soviet-era Russia, Schweiger said “definitely.”
“In a time of impossible dismantling of our social fabric, it feels important to be telling the story of corruption and of what happens when people arbitrarily make rules when they’re in power, and what people can accomplish when they decide that they’re fed up with what is happening,” Schweiger said.
This immersive nature has been the name of the game since the first “A Happening” performances, which in the past delved into Ovid’s “Metamorphoses,” and in 2024, the Shea Theater was set up to represent the inside of a whale’s belly. The immersive nature of these shows, and community buy-in, have helped the production return each year.
“I’ve met people who have come every year and they say they look forward to it every year,” Schweiger said. “I think it’s only gaining momentum in both people who want to come see it and people who want to be part of it.”
To purchase tickets in advance of “A Happening V: The Bestiary,” visit sheatheater.org/d/23210/A-HAPPENING-V–The-Bestiary.
