GEORGE ORWELL’S

ANIMAL FARM
Adapted for radio by Steve Pickering
from the stage adaptation by Althos Low

CONTACT:

Nicki Stoddart
United Agents LLP
12-26 Lexington Street
London W1F 0LE
nstoddart@unitedagents.co.uk

Audio Draft 08/23/20

Copyright © 2020
 1

PART ONE - SCENE ONE

A barnyard at night. MOSES, a great bird, speaks to us:

MOSES
O, there is a land, my Brothers and
Sisters – think of it. A land where all the
animals go when we die – if we’re good. If
we work hard for our Farmers, our Men, our
Masters. It is right there waiting for us –
(He points.)
- a little distance beyond the clouds, yes.
And it’s called Sugarcandy Mountain. O,
it’s a magical place. Sunday, seven
days a week. Lump sugar, yes, ears of sweet
corn, and linseed cakes, and, and - many
things grow on the hedges there. Right on
the hedges.

BENJAMIN, an older DONKEY, approaches. To him:

Ah – good evening.

BENJAMIN
What are you doing?

MOSES
I was just enlightening the congregation to
the future blessings that await us all on
Sugarcandy Mountain, Brother Donkey.

BENJAMIN
Then that makes you kind of a jackass,
doesn’t it, bird?
(Beat.)

MOSES
Here I go, then.

MOSES flaps away.

BENJAMIN
To those of you out there listening: call
me Benjamin. I’m a pack animal by trade,
and I live and work here on the Manor Farm.
It’s a nice enough spread, I guess. At
least it used to be. It’s owned by a man
named Mr. Jones – who was a good farmer at
first, as far as farmers go. All of us
 2

worked hard for him, and we always got fed

on time - in the beginning.
A small female PIG on the move appears. Spying BENJAMIN, she
stops.

But then Jones lost all of his money, like

men always seem to do. So instead of
working the fields and feeding us like he
was supposed to - he drank whiskey all day
down at the Red Lion Tavern.

SQUEALER
Hey. You.

SQUEALER approaches. BENJAMIN pays her no mind.

BENJAMIN
Then he’d stagger back home at night – too
drunk to remember our food – and take out
his pathetic life on us with a whip or a
stick.

SQUEALER
You’re not supposed to be here.

To her:

BENJAMIN
Don’t interrupt, Squealer.

SQUEALER
What are you doing?

BENJAMIN
I’m talking.

SQUEALER
Who are you talking to?

BENJAMIN
Right now, I’m talking to a very rude
little pig.

SQUEALER
But you’re supposed to be in the barn for
the meeting.

BENJAMIN
What meeting?
 3

SQUEALER
Old Major’s had a dream and she’s
called all the animals to a meeting in the
barn tonight. She’s going to tell us about
the Revolution, and how glorious things
will be when we get rid of the Tyrant
Jones.
(Beat.)

BENJAMIN
Oh, that meeting.

SQUEALER
Stupid donkey. You’re so slow and useless -
you don’t do anything.

She exits.

BENJAMIN
Maybe so - but who’s lived longer, pig –
you or me?

Lights shift as BENJAMIN follows.

 4

PART ONE - SCENE TWO

The ANIMALS in the BARN, clamoring.

ALL
We’re hungry. Where’s our food? We have to
eat, Snowball. We must eat. It’s been days.
We are starving. Where is our food,
Snowball? When will we be fed? We are
hungry. Where is Farmer Jones?

A PIG - SNOWBALL – raises his trotter.

SNOWBALL
I know. I know, my friends. But the food is
in the Storehouse, and its doors are locked
– only Jones can open them. We pigs cannot.

SQUEALER
He is drunk again – we saw him.

MURIEL
The cows and goats need to be milked,
Snowball. It’s been days.

Then, OLD MAJOR – an aged prize SOW - rises up on her forelegs in

the LOFT.

MAJOR
My fellow animals –

SNOWBALL
Listen. Listen - Old Major speaks.

All quiet down.

MAJOR
My fellow animals – I have had a dream.
(Beat.)
It was a dream of the Earth as it will be
when Man has vanished from the face of it.
Remove Man, and the cause of our hunger –
and our slavery - is abolished forever.

The ANIMALS react.

ALL
Yes – oh, yes. Remove Man. Kick him out.
 5

MAJOR
I do not think, my friends, that I shall be
with you for very much longer. But before I
die, I feel it my duty to pass on to you
such wisdom as I have acquired in my long
life.

SNOWBALL
Tell us, Major.

MAJOR
The lives of Animals are solitary, poor,
and brutish, are they not?

SNOWBALL
They are – and short, too.

SQUEALER
Too short to be kicked and whipped.

MAJOR
We are born, we are fed just so much –

ALL
When? We are hungry. When will he feed us?

SQUEALER
Quiet.

They subside.

MAJOR
- we are fed just so much to keep us alive,
forced to work to our last ounce of
strength - and the very instant that our
usefulness comes to an end - we are taken
there.
(She points.)
There - to The Room. To be strung up, bled,
our throats cut by the butcher’s knife.

The ANIMALS react.

ALL
No. No. The Room. The Room. Don’t let them,
Major. Save us.

MAJOR
My prizes have brought glory to Manor Farm
– and they have spared my life. But I am
twelve years old and have borne over one
 6

hundred children. Where are they now? Where

is my future? No animal escapes the cruel
knife in the end. You – Boxer, my old
friend.

A massive WORK HORSE steps forward – this is BOXER.

BOXER
Yes, Major.

MAJOR
The very day those great muscles of yours
lose their power, Jones will sell you to
the slaughterhouse, where they will cut
your throat and boil you down for glue and
fertilizer and food for the city cats and
dogs. Do you know it?

BOXER
I believe you. I will work harder.

BOXER stands down.

MAJOR
Those dog pups there - who lost their
mother last night in childbirth.

She points to two DOG PUPS in a box.

Jones will tie a brick round their

necks and drown them in the pond.

NAPOLEON – a large BOAR - steps to the box and sighs.

NAPOLEON
Ay me.

MAJOR
There - you see? Tears well even in the
eyes of my brother pig, Napoleon.

NAPOLEON
Can nothing be done for them?

MAJOR
Even he – normally so still, so silent -
cannot help but be moved by the pups’ fate.
But what of the fate of others, my friends?
What has happened to the thousands of
gallons of milk the cows have given – which
should have been breeding up sturdy calves?
Every drop of it has gone down the throats
 7

of our enemies. And the eggs - how many of

the eggs you hens laid this past year have
hatched into grown chickens?

A HEN named MAGGIE steps forward.

MAGGIE
Yes. Only enough to replace the – the ones
that were lost, Major.

SQUEALER
The ones that were murdered, you mean
- and eaten.

MAJOR
Naturally, Squealer – and the rest have all
gone to market to bring in money for the
Tyrant Jones.

The ANIMALS react.

ALL
Money. It’s always money. He’s a tyrant.
They were eaten for money. It’s murder.

MAJOR
The soil of our farm is rich enough to
provide a decent, dignified life to all who
live upon it. Man is the only creature that
consumes without producing. He does not
give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too
weak to pull the plow. Get rid of Man – and
almost overnight we would be rich and free.
We must work night and day, body and soul,
to overthrow the Human Race. And that is my
message to you tonight, my friends:
Revolution.

SNOWBALL
Revolution. Revolution now.

SQUEALER
Smash his hooks and weapons. Burn his
shelters to the ground.

The ANIMALS react.

ALL
Smash them. Revolution. Smash them. Smash
his weapons. Burn it down. Burn his house
to the ground.
 8

MAJOR
Pass this message on until all animals,
everywhere, stand on four legs – victorious
and free.

MAGGIE
What about us, Major? What about the hens
and farm birds? We’ve only got two legs.

MAJOR
You are absolutely right, my sisters.

OLD MAJOR is beginning to tire.

Everyone – repeat after me: whatever goes

upon four legs - or has wings - is a
friend.

ALL
Whatever goes upon four legs - or has wings
- is a friend.

MAJOR
Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.

ALL
Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.

SQUEALER
Four legs good. Two legs bad.

ALL
Four legs good. Two legs bad.

MAJOR
Yes – that’s right. And also –
(Breathing heavily.)
- and also, no animal must ever kill
another animal. Say it.

ALL
No animal must ever kill another animal.

MAJOR
Because all animals are equal.

ALL
Because all animals are equal.

OLD MAJOR falters. The ANIMALS react.

 9

ALL
Oh no. No, Major. Are you all right? Is she
sick? Lie down, Major. Help.

MAJOR
Do not be concerned with me. Look to
yourselves – and to your own kind. Many
years ago, when I was young, my mother and
The other sows used to sing an old song.
Last night, it came back to me in my dream.

(She sings.)
“Beasts of Earth, and Beasts of Country,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken to my joyful tidings
Of the Golden Future Time.”
(Spoken.)
Now, sing it with me.

ALL
“Beasts of Earth, and Beasts of Country,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken to my joyful tidings
Of the Golden Future Time.”

MAJOR
“We believe the day is coming,
Tyrant Man shall be overthrown,
And the fruitful fields of this land
Shall be trod by beasts alone.”

OLD MAJOR is weakening.

ALL
“Beasts of Earth, and Beasts of Country,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken to my joyful tidings
Of the Golden Future Time.”

OLD MAJOR collapses to the floor, still.

SNOWBALL makes his way to the LOFT. NAPOLEON and SQUEALER follow.
Over the body:

SNOWBALL
Her heart is burst. She is gone, my
friends.

A beat - then BOXER steps forward:

 10

BOXER
(Singing.)
“And the fruitful fields of this land
Shall be trod by beasts alone.”

Silence. Then:

MAGGIE
I’m hungry.

SNOWBALL suddenly gallops down to the main floor of the BARN.

SNOWBALL
I’m going to smash those doors and get us
some food.

SNOWBALL gallops straight for the doors of the STOREHOUSE and

smashes his body into them, bouncing off. Undaunted, he marches
back to his starting place – but BOXER steps in his path.

BOXER
May I try, Brother?

SNOWBALL
Please do.

With one mighty kick of his hind legs, BOXER smashes the doors
open. The ANIMALS cheer, shouting BOXER’s name.

ALL
Boxer. He did it. Good. Yay, Boxer. Food.
He’s so strong. Food.

But suddenly, a wide shaft of light falls upon them: the barn
door opening. The ANIMALS freeze.

ALL
(In whispers.)
Jones. Oh no. It’s Jones. He has a
whip. Mr. Jones.

A shotgun blast splits the air. The ANIMALS are terrified, many
threatening to run.

SNOWBALL steps forward.

SNOWBALL
It’s happening now, my brothers and sisters
– the Revolution. Revolution. Fight back.
Fight back.

Which they do: led by SNOWBALL, the ANIMALS attack.

 11

Sounds of the battle as JONES is driven from the farm.

Blackout.
 12

PART ONE - SCENE THREE

BENJAMIN stands by the box of DOG PUPS. He addresses us.

BENJAMIN
And so – sooner than anyone expected –
Jones was run howling off the land, and
Manor Farm was ours. We went back to the
barn, let out the milk cow, and broke open
The Room. The dead were buried beside Old
Major at the foot of the orchard. The bits,
the nose-rings, the chains, and the knives
were all flung down the well. The whips
were thrown on a fire the pigs started in
the yard.

The ANIMALS sing in the distance.

It made me – I was -
(Beat.)
Maybe I did have hope - but that’s not
really any of your business.

NAPOLEON and a small PIG – PINKEYE – appear and look into the
box. The cries of the dog pups.

PINKEYE
They’re so cute when they’re little.

BENJAMIN
If you like puppies.

PINKEYE
Do you think anyone will adopt them?

BENJAMIN
Don’t look at me.

NAPOLEON
Pinkeye.

PINKEYE
Brother Napoleon?

NAPOLEON
I will take them and care for them.

PINKEYE
You will?
 13

NAPOLEON
Yes – I think that would be best.

As BENJAMIN and PINKEYE watch, he drags the box away.

PINKEYE
(In admiration.)
Gosh. What a pig.

Lights shift.
 14

PART ONE - SCENE FOUR

A KNOLL on the FARM. Several hours later, at point of daybreak.

SNOWBALL appears at the top of the rise.

SNOWBALL
Just a little farther, Brothers and
Sisters. Come on. Up here to the top of the
knoll. Hurry - it’s almost daybreak.

BOXER appears at the top next – then MURIEL, a GOAT. Then MOLLIE
– a beautiful young MARE. Then BENJAMIN, MAGGIE, JULIA - a COW,
and lastly, NAPOLEON.

MURIEL
Last night I slept better than I ever have
before.

BOXER
Just wait till after we work all day on our
own farm, Muriel.

SNOWBALL
(The view.)
Here comes the sun.

The sun breaks over the horizon.

MOLLIE
This view is soooooo beautiful.

MURIEL
It all looks brand new.

SNOWBALL
And it’s ours – everything we see. This
is not Manor Farm, anymore. It’s Animal
Farm.

BOXER
Animal Farm.

MAGGIE
How high up are we?

SNOWBALL
The hayfields, the orchard, the pond -

NAPOLEON
Free from the tyranny of Man.
 15

MOLLIE
If Mr. Jones is not coming back - who is
going to be our Master?

SNOWBALL
We don’t need a master now, Mollie.

MOLLIE
We don’t?

MAGGIE
This is really, really high up.

SNOWBALL
We have each other - and the new philosophy
Old Major taught us. We call it Animalism.

MURIEL
Hurry up, Julia.

JULIA
Ooof - I need to be milked soon.

SNOWBALL
We pigs will teach you all about it.

MAGGIE
I think this is making me dizzy.

MURIEL
(To MAGGIE.)
Hush now.

BOXER
What’s a philosophy?

MAGGIE
You hush.

BENJAMIN
It’s rules.

NAPOLEON
Rules we all must follow to live.

SNOWBALL
Well, not necessarily. We all have a say in
everything, we each get one vote - and the
majority of votes tell us what to do. Don’t
worry – we’ll teach you. We pigs have
taught ourselves how to read and write.
 16

MURIEL
I can read a little.

SNOWBALL
Then you can help the others, too.

MAGGIE
You can start by helping me down.

MURIEL
Shush, Maggie.

MAGGIE
You shush.

MOLLIE
Will I still get sugar for pulling the
fancy cart?

BENJAMIN
Doubtful.

JULIA
I haven’t been milked in a long time.

SNOWBALL
You don’t need sugar, Mollie. You
have oats and hay – as long as you work for
them.

MOLLIE
Will I still be allowed to wear ribbons
in my mane?

NAPOLEON
Those ribbons are the badges of our
slavery. Freedom is worth much more than
Man’s ribbons, Sister.

SNOWBALL
He’s right.

BOXER
Brother Napoleon is always right.

JULIA
Ooof.

SNOWBALL
Do you understand?
 17

MOLLIE
I think so.

MURIEL
We’ll help you.

SNOWBALL turns to NAPOLEON.

SNOWBALL
Where’s Squealer?

NAPOLEON
Still getting ready for the meeting. She’ll
fetch us.

SNOWBALL
Let’s make our way to the Farmhouse, then.

MOLLIE
Why the Farmhouse?

SNOWBALL
To see inside.

NAPOLEON
Jones’ lap of luxury.

MOLLIE
But we’re not allowed in there.

SNOWBALL
We are now.

The ANIMALS exit. A moment: MAGGIE is stuck on the KNOLL.

MAGGIE
Okay, I’m coming down, now. Here I come.
Right now.
(Beat.)
Hey – anybody? Girl could use a spare hoof
up here.

Lights shift.
 18

PART ONE - SCENE FIVE

(Creaks of the floorboards in the house, perhaps?)

SNOWBALL and NAPOLEON, whispering:

SNOWBALL
Careful, Brother – this floor is slick as
ice.

NAPOLEON
We should stay to the rugs.

SNOWBALL
Where did Boxer get to?

BOXER speaking in the distance.

NAPOLEON
He’s in that room.

They travel. BOXER is talking to someone.

BOXER
(Unintelligible) – and to let you live and
eat right here in the house with them? That
is very lucky for you.

SNOWBALL
Boxer – who are you talking to?

BOXER
These three friends yoked through the wall,
Brother Snowball. I’ve never met them
before. The cat seems to have got their
tongues.
(Beat.)

SNOWBALL
They can’t answer you.

BOXER
No?

SNOWBALL
No. They’re dead, my friend. Those aren’t -
that’s only their heads up there.

NAPOLEON
Mounted - for hunting trophies.
(Beat.)
 19

BOXER
Murderers.

SNOWBALL
Butchers.

NAPOLEON
Man.

All of the former group but MOLLIE and MURIEL are awestruck by
the human furnishings.

Boxer - take them off the wall, please.

MURIEL appears.

MURIEL
Upstairs, Mollie and I found a bed and
pillows.
(Beat.)

MAGGIE
So what?

MURIEL
A bed and pillows stuffed with feathers.

MAGGIE
Oh. Oh. I can’t –
(To SNOWBALL.)
May I be excused?

SNOWBALL
Of course.

MAGGIE
This is a bad day.

She exits. SNOWBALL notices NAPOLEON.

SNOWBALL
Are you alright, Brother?

NAPOLEON
There are more of our brothers and sisters
hanging in the kitchen pantry. Boxer, will
you give them a proper burial, too?

BOXER
I will tend to them all.
 20

NAPOLEON
There is a barrel of beer there, too, that
needs to be destroyed.

BOXER
You may count on me, always.

NAPOLEON
Thank you.

SNOWBALL
Where is Mollie?

MURIEL
She found some ribbons upstairs, and a
mirror.

SNOWBALL
(Calling up.)
Mollie – where are you?

A small crash from upstairs.

MOLLIE
(Off.)
Oh, gosh –
(To SNOWBALL.)
I’m coming down.

SQUEALER appears.

SNOWBALL
Are we ready for the meeting, Sister?

SQUEALER
The wall is painted, and the others are
eating their breakfast.

SNOWBALL
Good.

SQUEALER
And I have made two new discoveries.

SNOWBALL
Which are?

SQUEALER
A pig’s trotter is the perfect tool
to hold a paintbrush – and to milk a cow.
Four buckets worth.
 21

JULIA moos long and loud.

SNOWBALL
Five buckets – if we hurry.

Lights shift.
 22

PART ONE - SCENE SIX

SNOWBALL and NAPOLEON in the Loft.

ALL
“Beasts of Earth, and Beasts of Country,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken to my joyful tidings
Of the Golden Future Time.”

SNOWBALL
At the foot of Old Major, we pigs learned a
philosophy: a better way of living our
lives from this happy day to the end of
all days. She called it - Animalism.

NAPOLEON
She was a mother to us all.

SNOWBALL points to the WALL of the BARN.

SNOWBALL
Brother Napoleon and I have organized the
main principles of Animalism into Seven
Commandments – which Squealer has
been kind enough to paint on the wall for
all to see. We’ll read them to you.

NAPOLEON
Number One: “Whatever goes upon two legs is
an enemy.”

SNOWBALL
Number Two: “Whatever goes upon four legs,
or has wings, is a friend.”

SQUEALER
Four legs good. Two legs bad.

ALL
Four legs good. Two legs bad.

SNOWBALL
Exactly - good work.

NAPOLEON
Number Three: “No animal shall wear
clothes.”
SNOWBALL
Number Four: “No animal shall sleep in a
bed.”
 23

NAPOLEON
Number Five: “No animal shall drink
alcohol.

SNOWBALL
Number Six: “No animal shall kill any other
animal.” And – most important – Number
Seven: “All animals are equal.” Say it.

ALL
All animals are equal.

NAPOLEON
Let us put it to a vote.

SNOWBALL
All those in favor of adopting the Seven
Commandments as the Laws of Animal Farm,
raise your foreleg or wing.

A beat as the votes are counted. BENJAMIN and SQUEALER,

privately:

SQUEALER
What’s your problem, donkey? You’re gonna
vote against us?

BENJAMIN
I didn’t say that.

SQUEALER
Oh - you’re just not gonna vote at all.

BENJAMIN
It won’t make any difference if I do or
not, pig.

SQUEALER
Stupid old coward.

BENJAMIN
It’s none of your business.

BENJAMIN does not vote.

NAPOLEON
The vote looks unanimous. Our first
resolution is passed.

SNOWBALL
The Seven Commandments are Law.
 24

The ANIMALS react.

ALL
It’s the law. It passed. It’s the law.
We voted. I voted.

SNOWBALL
Now, Brothers and Sisters – to the
hayfields.

The ANIMALS disperse. SQUEALER joins SNOWBALL. MURIEL, BENJAMIN,

and MAGGIE, linger.

SQUEALER
Six-and-a-half buckets of milk.

SNOWBALL
Well done - let’s get to the fields.

They exit together. NAPOLEON waits.

MAGGIE
What’s going to happen to all that milk?

NAPOLEON
I have no idea.

MAGGIE
Jones used to mix some of it in our mash.

NAPOLEON
I’m sure we’ll vote on what to do with it.

MAGGIE
I vote we mix some of it in our mash like
Jones used to.

NAPOLEON
Sister - the hay is waiting.

All exit – except MAGGIE and BENJAMIN. To us:

BENJAMIN
That night - after we had returned from
the first day’s work - the buckets of milk
had disappeared.
 25

MAGGIE
Did we vote?
(To BENJAMIN.)
Did you vote? I don’t think we did yet, did
we?

Ignoring her.

BENJAMIN
It wasn’t hard to figure out who took it.
It just wasn’t any of my –
(Beat.)
I don’t care for milk, anyway.

MAGGIE raises her wing.

MAGGIE
I vote yes. On the milk. In our mash.

Lights shift.
 26

PART ONE - SCENE SEVEN

Lights shift to the ANIMALS in the hayfield. This is the RITUAL

OF THE HARVEST. It continues throughout the scene.

ALL
“Beasts of Earth, and Beasts of Country,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken to my joyful tidings
Of the Golden Future Time.”

“For that day we all must labor,

Though we die before it break;
Cows and horses, geese and turkeys,
All must toil for freedom’s sake.”

MURIEL and BENJAMIN fall out.

BENJAMIN
I’ve never sweated so much in my life.

MURIEL
The horses harvest hay better than Jones
ever did.

BENJAMIN
It would be a lot easier with more tools.

MURIEL
Well, the pigs figured out some of them,
didn’t they? They’ll find their way
around the problems.

Lights shift to SNOWBALL and NAPOLEON, talking.

SNOWBALL
Added to the 24 bushels already gathered,
it looks like this harvest could be even
bigger than we had hoped.

NAPOLEON
But we haven’t faced the Southwest corner
yet – and that ground is hard as iron.

SNOWBALL
With the time we’ve already saved - what
does it matter?

NAPOLEON
Well it matters to me.
 27

Lights shift to MURIEL and BENJAMIN.

BENJAMIN
All through the summer the work went on.

MURIEL
Not a mouthful of hay has been stolen.
Every animal has done their part.

BENJAMIN
Boxer does more. Boxer always does more.

Lights shift to BOXER pulling an object by ropes the length of

the stage. SQUEALER offers encouragement.

SQUEALER
Ten more feet. You can make it. You can do
it. Down to five. Come on. Come on.
Aaaaaaaannnnnnd - perfect. You are an
example to us all, my friend.

BOXER
Thank you, Sister.

Lights shift to MURIEL and BENJAMIN.

MURIEL
You know what? I’m happy. Much happier than
I was before the Revolution.

MOLLIE appears, searching the ground.

Even the food tastes better. We made it, we

earned it, and we give it to ourselves. No
one makes us feel worthless for being
hungry and needing to be fed.
(To MOLLIE.)
Aren’t you happier, Mollie?

MOLLIE
Oh, yes, of course. It has been a
long time since I’ve had any sugar, though.
I do so love sugar.

MURIEL
Why don’t you have an apple?

BENJAMIN
There are windfalls under the tree.
 28

MOLLIE
There were – but they’ve gone. All gone.
Who would want to take all the apples?

Lights shift as the ANIMALS gather for the Sunday meeting –

NAPOLEON and SNOWBALL ascend the LOFT.

Lights shift to SNOWBALL in mid-speech.

SNOWBALL
We finished two full days ahead of the
usual time it took Jones to harvest the
hay, but it is the biggest harvest that
this farm has produced in its history.

The ANIMALS cheer.

ALL
Yay. The harvest. We did a good job. We
worked hard. We’re better than Man.

PINKEYE steps forward.

PINKEYE
Brother Snowball?

SNOWBALL
Yes, Brother Pinkeye.

PINKEYE
I believe we should pay special tribute to
the birds and hens, whose sharp eyes and
nimble beaks picked up every little wisp of
hay in the field after the raking.

SNOWBALL
I believe you’re right.
(To ALL.)
To the birds and hens.

ALL
To the birds and hens.

SNOWBALL
And now – a day of well-earned rest and
extra rations before the corn harvest
begins. But to end our meeting, we have a
surprise. Sister Squealer?

SQUEALER and BOXER raise a flag on a pole. It has a hoof and horn
painted on it.
 29

SQUEALER
Behold, Brothers and Sisters: the Hoof and
Horn. The flag of Animal Farm.

The ANIMALS react.

All hail the Hoof and Horn.

ALL
All hail the Hoof and Horn.

NAPOLEON
All hail the Revolution.

ALL
All hail the Revolution.

SNOWBALL
All hail Animal Farm.

ALL
All hail Animal Farm.

ALL
“Beasts of Earth, and Beasts of Country,
Beasts of every land and clime,”

Lights shift.
 30

PART ONE - SCENE EIGHT

MOSES appears, singing.

MOSES
“Beasts of Earth, and Beasts of Country,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken to my joyful tidings
Of the Golden Future Time.”

Lights shift to include SNOWBALL, SQUEALER, and NAPOLEON, who

have been listening.

SNOWBALL
That’s very good, Moses – now: are the
instructions clear?

MOSES
Clear as a running spring. I will spread
your song and –

NAPOLEON
Our song.

SQUEALER
You live here, too.

MOSES
Without question, Sister.

SNOWBALL
Spread our song and our story far
and wide to every animal - every farm in
the country.

NAPOLEON
The future of our Revolution depends on
you, bird.

SNOWBALL
Take wing, then - and fly for liberty.

MOSES
I do. I will. It is my destiny. Here I go,
then.

MOSES flies off. The PIGS travel.

NAPOLEON
How much corn is that mangy bird going to
cost us?
 31

SQUEALER
All told, maybe one bushel. But the
hens and ducks alone have saved us five
full bushels picking up the stray grains.
(To NAPOLEON.)

SNOWBALL
Do you not see the benefit of trusting him?

NAPOLEON
I see a bad investment in a bird I wouldn’t
trust to clean my stall.

SQUEALER
Investing in a tractor might cut a full
month off the harvest, Brothers.

SNOWBALL
Now that’s an idea, Sister. We can even
build our own machines when the time is
right. For now – we work, our bellies are
full, and the farm has a record crop.

Lights shift to BOXER and MURIEL. BOXER draws letters in the

dirt.

MURIEL
Very good, Boxer. And now that you’ve drawn
them in the dirt – you can read them back
to me.

BOXER
I will.
(Beat. Reading.)
“A.”

MURIEL
Good.
(Beat.)
BOXER
“B.”

MURIEL
“Boxer” begins with “B.”

BOXER
Yes – “B” is for “Boxer.”

MURIEL
Right. Next?
 32

BOXER
Next is –
(Beat.)

Ah –
(Beat.)
I know it. Don’t tell me. It’s “D.”

A beat – then lights shift back to the PIGS.

SNOWBALL
The Animal Committees have met today?

SQUEALER
The Egg Production Committee, Clean Tails
League, and Whiter Wool Movement have –
and made progress. The Wild Comrades' Re-
education Coalition tripped over the wing
debate again.

SNOWBALL
Did you explain it to them?

SQUEALER
A hundred times. “A bird's wing is an organ
of propulsion and not of manipulation.” How
hard can it be?

SNOWBALL
Some will get it – and some won’t, Sister.
We must be patient in order to lead.

Lights shift to BOXER and MURIEL. BENJAMIN, JULIA, and MAGGIE

have joined them.

BOXER
“E.”

MURIEL
Good.

BOXER
“F.” That’s easy.

MURIEL
Good.

BOXER
“G.”

MURIEL
Good. Oh - “Good” actually begins with “G.”
 33

BOXER
I know that.

MURIEL
I know you do.

BOXER
“H.”

MURIEL
Very good, Boxer.

The ANIMALS react.

ALL
Oooo. Very good. You did good, Boxer. He’s
smart.

MURIEL
Now, go all the way back to the beginning.

Lights shift back to the PIGS.

NAPOLEON
What about the female horse - Mollie?

SQUEALER
She can’t get up in the morning. And she
always seems to get a stone in her shoe an
hour before quitting time.
(Sarcastic.)
But she can spell now.

SNOWBALL
She’s learned her alphabet?

SQUEALER
Five letters – the ones that spell her
name.

NAPOLEON
Naturally.

SNOWBALL
Well, with any luck, they’ll all be
able to read and write at least something
by the end of autumn.

SQUEALER
Brother, the sheep, hens, and ducks can’t
even get past the letter “A”.
 34

NAPOLEON
Pigs are naturally superior in every way.

SNOWBALL
So we must be all the more thoughtful – and
set the best example we can for our fellow
animals.

Lights shift to BOXER, MURIEL, BENJAMIN, JULIA, and MAGGIE.

BOXER

Ah –
(Beat.)

MAGGIE
I know it.

MURIEL
Hush. Go on, Boxer.

MAGGIE
You hush.

BOXER
I know it.

MAGGIE
I do, too.

MURIEL
Hush.

BOXER
I know it. Don’t tell me.

MURIEL
I won’t.

MAGGIE
It’s “A.”

BOXER
I know it. It’s “A.”

MURIEL sighs.

MURIEL
And the second letter, Maggie?
(Beat.)
 35

MAGGIE
It’s “A,” like I said.
(To BOXER.)

MURIEL
No, it’s “B.” You see, Boxer? “A” is all
she knows right now – so when you’re
learning your letters, be careful not to –

SQUEALER enters.

SQUEALER
Brother Boxer?

BOXER
Yes, Sister?

SQUEALER
We are needed in the Northeast field right
away.

BOXER
I will come with you.
(To MURIEL.)
I will work harder. I will learn them.

He exits with SQUEALER. To the group:

MURIEL
Would anyone else like to try?

The ANIMALS disperse, save BENJAMIN.

How about you, Benjamin?

BENJAMIN
No – I’ve never seen anything worth
reading. I’ll go help in the field.
They’ll work Boxer too hard.

MURIEL
He’ll work himself too hard.

MURIEL exits. BENJAMIN travels, then stops. To himself:

BENJAMIN
A-B-C-D-E-F-G,
H-I-J-K-LMNOP,
LMNOP-Q-R-S-T,
U-V-W, X-Y-Zed,
X-Y-Zed,
 36

Sugar on your bread,

Eat it all up,
Before you are -

MOSES appears.

MOSES
- Dead. And you are going to the Bad Place
for knowing letters, my friend - where all
the bad animals go when they die. And it
won’t be long, now, either.

BENJAMIN
Don’t you have someplace to fly off to?

MOSES
I go to spread the pig’s song of blasphemy.

BENJAMIN
Out of the goodness of your heart.

MOSES
Yes - but I also know that the Men are
going to come back for you soon. Salvation
is at hand – my Master is coming back, and
he’s bringing others, and they’re almost
ready to march. And when they do – O, when
they do – you’re going to die, Jackass.

MOSES flies off. Beat.

Lights shift.
 37

PART ONE - SCENE NINE

In the distance, the sound of MEN marching. First, SQUEALER

appears, with a clipboard – then JULIA, as a WITNESS.

SQUEALER
Please tell us your story for our official
history of the Battle.

JULIA
The men attacked us with guns early in the
morning. I was afraid – that much I
remember. I was being milked by someone in
my stall. I forget who - it was a pig,
though. His trotters were ice cold.

MAGGIE appears, as a WITNESS.

MAGGIE
My sister and I couldn’t see the men, but
we heard them coming. We ran around and
around in circles until Snowball told us
where to go.

PINKEYE appears, as a WITNESS.

JULIA
Moses the raven had told Snowball that
Jones and ten other men were coming up the
road. They had sticks too – but Jones was
leading them, and he had a gun.

MAGGIE
Snowball told us to go into the cowshed and
wait with all the others.

PINKEYE
To all us younger pigs, Snowball was so
brave that day – truly an inspiration. He
based our defenses on a book from the
farmhouse about Julius Caesar’s war
campaigns.

MAGGIE
I remember the birds were first. Not us.
The farm birds. The ones that fly.

JULIA
They flew over the men and shat on all
their heads.
 38

PINKEYE
Next, the sheep charged them in a wave.

MAGGIE
Butting the men from every side.

PINKEYE
Then the old donkey jumped in and kicked
one when he saw an opening. That was first
blood – some of them were bleeding.

JULIA
The men kicked and screamed and fought back
with their boots and sticks.

MAGGIE
And then – Snowball squealed: “Retreat.”

JULIA
So the sheep retreated from the men – and
ran back into the yard.

PINKEYE
The men followed them. They thought they
were winning – but Snowball had tricked
everyone.

JULIA
When the men were right by the cowshed,
Snowball shouted:

SNOWBALL
Attack!

PINKEYE
And every other animal on the farm came
rolling out and ambushed the men. We kicked
them, we bit them, we gored them, we
trampled them - it was glorious.

MAGGIE
I saw a man. And I pecked him hard many,
many times. Many.

JULIA
I saw it happen. I saw Snowball and Boxer.
I saw Jones with the gun.

Lights shift to the BATTLE.

SNOWBALL charges the MEN. The blast of a shotgun – he is grazed

along his back – but charges, yet again.
 39

The MEN are driven off, and the ANIMALS gather.

The ANIMALS travel to the BARN, as lights shift back to the

WITNESSES.

JULIA
The men ran away. We had won. It was very
exciting.

MAGGIE
I think I pecked two or three of them in
all.
(Beat.)
I’m not proud of that.

PINKEYE
We named it the Battle of the Cowshed.

Lights shift to the BARN. PINKEYE moves to the flagpole. JONES’

shotgun is strapped to it – a string tied to its trigger.

SNOWBALL stands at the center of attention – SQUEALER to his

side. NAPOLEON stands near them. The ANIMALS watch.

PINKEYE raises the flag.

SQUEALER attaches a medal to SNOWBALL’s chest.

SQUEALER
Brother Snowball

ALL
Snowball! Snowball! Snowball!

SQUEALER
Animal Hero First Class.

The ANIMALS give a thunderous ovation.

NAPOLEON moves away from the ceremony.

SNOWBALL
My fellow animals, thank you. Like you all,
I mourn the loss of our brothers and
sisters who died in battle – and who, for
their service, shall be buried with solemn
dignity next to Old Major at the foot of
the orchard. They were good workers – and
are a part of our hearts.

SQUEALER fires the shotgun. The ANIMALS cheer.

 40

BOXER
And the fruitful fields of this land,
shall be trod by beasts alone.

SNOWBALL
Winter will soon be upon us, and there is
still much work to be done. Over the
coming months, we will meet in the barn to
plan our future. For now, though – let us
lay our friends to rest.

The ANIMALS disperse, leaving PINKEYE and – unseen by him –

NAPOLEON, who listens. To Napoleon:

PINKEYE
Brother Napoleon?

NAPOLEON
Yes, Pinkeye?

PINKEYE
This is our farm, now. We fought for it -
and won it with our own blood. This is what
we always wanted and hoped for: a society
of animals set free from hunger and the
whip. All of us equal – each working
according to his gifts. Where everyone
speaks their mind – and the strong protect
the weak. I have to say - this day, my
journey as a pig is complete.

NAPOLEON
Good for you, Brother.

PINKEYE
I think so.

PINKEYE follows the others. NAPOLEON alone.

NAPOLEON
Good little pig.

He drifts away.

NAPOLEON stands silent.

Lights shift.
 41

PART ONE - SCENE TEN

BENJAMIN appears.

BENJAMIN
The debates began in the barn. The pigs
made it their business to propose any
future farm policy – but whatever they
decided, had to be voted on by the
majority. Now, there were a lot of ideas
from a lot of pigs – but after a while, it
really only boiled down to two. And it
didn’t take long for their policies to get
personal.

Lights shift to the BARN. With SQUEALER by his side, SNOWBALL

addresses the ANIMALS from the LOFT. NAPOLEON is on the main
floor.

SNOWBALL
My Brothers and Sisters - having voted
in favor of my basic plan for field drains
and slag disposal last week –

He looks to NAPOLEON.

- despite the opposing arguments made

against it over three long meetings -

He addresses ALL.

- today, I would like to propose a brand-

new scheme. For our dung.

NAPOLEON snorts.

NAPOLEON
(Low.)
The Dung Scheme.

SNOWBALL
I propose that we drop our dung in
the fields at a different designated spot
every day.

NAPOLEON
(Low.)
Absurd.
 42

SNOWBALL
This saves us carting it around and also
gives us the added bonus of fertilizing our
fields in an easy, ongoing, and productive
way.

NAPOLEON
(Low.)
That’s a ridiculous idea.

SNOWBALL
Did you say something, Brother?

NAPOLEON
I said that’s a ridiculous idea.

The ANIMALS react.

ALL
What did he say? Ridiculous. What is it? He
doesn’t like it. He said it’s bad.

SNOWBALL
Do you have a better scheme?

NAPOLEON
I don’t need a scheme to tell me where to
drop my dung.

SNOWBALL
We should vote on it, then.

NAPOLEON
What do you think, Boxer?
(Beat.)

BOXER
I think Brother Napoleon is always right.

SNOWBALL
But I have already spoken with many of the
other animals who feel quite differently.
(To ALL.)
All those in favor, then, of trying the New
Fertilization Scheme –

NAPOLEON
(Low.)
The Snowball Dung Scheme.
 43

SNOWBALL
- please raise your foreleg or wing.
(Beat.)
All those opposed?
(Beat.)

SQUEALER
The “Ayes” carry it. The resolution is
passed.

SNOWBALL
(To NAPOLEON.)
The Majority Rules, Brother. Better luck
next time.

Light shift to the FIELDS. In the distance, the ANIMALS sing.

BENJAMIN appears. To us:

BENJAMIN
Meanwhile, you could smell winter in the
wind – so in between the barn debates, we
still had weeks of work to do storing the
hay and corn from the harvests. Most of us
did, anyway. Some of us just liked to stand
around all day and spell their names in the
dirt.

MOLLIE appears. She draws letters in the dirt. MAGGIE appears,

watching.

MOLLIE
“M” – “O” – “L” – “L” – “L” –
(Beat.)
- “L” – oh, foot.

She wipes the letters away, then notices MAGGIE. Beat.

MAGGIE
You are one lazy horsey.

MOLLIE
What? I worked.

MAGGIE
I thought you had a stone in your hoof.

MOLLIE
I did. But I’m learning my letters, now.

MAGGIE turns, calling to the ANIMALS offstage.

 44

MAGGIE
The lazy horsey says she’s learning her
letters now.

MAGGIE exits. Beat.

MOLLIE
But I worked. I promise I did.

Lights shift to the BARN. SNOWBALL in the LOFT, SQUEALER beside

him. NAPOLEON is on the floor.

SNOWBALL
- my resolution, then, my friends, is to
sow the larger acreage with barley.

NAPOLEON
And my resolution is to sow the larger
acreage with oats.

SNOWBALL
You’re simply being contrary, Brother. As
I’ve just explained, we can trade our
barley in the town at a higher rate than -

NAPOLEON
If we sow the fields with oats, Brother, we
can eat them once they’re harvested. We
would never go hungry.

SNOWBALL
In the short term, yes – but trading the
barley at a higher rate would be an
investment in our future. We could afford a
tractor, or a –

NAPOLEON
We can’t eat the future, Brother – or a
tractor, for that matter. Shall we put it
to a vote?

SNOWBALL
If you’re feeling lucky this week, Brother
– by all means.

NAPOLEON
But this time I have spoken with many of
the other animals here - who now feel the
same way I do about it.

SNOWBALL is taken aback.

 45

SNOWBALL
Wait, wait, my friends - if we don’t sow
with barley, we stand to lose –

SQUEALER
Oats. Oats. Oats –

ALL
Oats. Oats. Oats. Oats. Oats.

Lights shift to MOLLIE in the FIELD. She draws in the dirt.

BENJAMIN appears, watching.

MOLLIE
Mollie Mollie Mollie -
I worked for a long time, today.

BENJAMIN
Some of us still are.

MOLLIE
The ground doesn’t want me to spell
anymore.

BENJAMIN
It’s freezing up.

MOLLIE
But what’ll I do when I can’t?

BENJAMIN
I’m not sure if I care.

MOLLIE
But I like it so much.

BENJAMIN
Then spell in the snow when it gets here.

He turns.

If you need us, we’ll all be here -

working.

He exits. Lights shift back to the BARN.

SNOWBALL
For example, my friends – and we are
certainly not going to do this – but when
Jones needed money, he got it by selling
the cows’ milk and the hens’ eggs in the town.
 46

So if we –

MAGGIE
What? What did he say?

NAPOLEON
Are you suggesting that we sell the hens’
eggs now, Brother? How dare you.

MAGGIE
You just try it, Mister.

SNOWBALL
No. No, Sister – that’s not what I was
saying at all.

(To NAPOLEON.)

Don’t twist my words, Brother – you know

very well I was simply using the idea as
an example.

NAPOLEON
Banning the sale of eggs was one of the
first resolutions passed by this body weeks
ago. How dare you.

MAGGIE
How dare you.

SNOWBALL
And yet, you still have no alternative
revenue scheme of your own, Brother. No
ideas – nothing

NAPOLEON
I’ll take doing nothing over something that
soils the very principles of Animalism and
the Seven Commandments. I’m stunned by how
easy it has become for animals like you to
ignore them.

SNOWBALL
And what kind of animal is that?

NAPOLEON
A very arrogant and dangerous one, Brother.
To even think of selling eggs is murder.

Lights shift to MOLLIE in the FIELD. She stands, shivering.

 47

MOLLIE
Hunnn. Hunnn. Hunnn.

She prances in a circle to warm and cheer herself.

Mollie Mollie Mollie

Then stands again – not very successful. Beat – then a sound: a

box of something loose being shaken.

She looks in the direction of it. The shaking stops. Beat. The
sound again.

Then light reveals a small pile of cube sugar on the ground.

Oh – sugar.

MOLLIE takes a step toward it. Then MURIEL suddenly enters –

BENJAMIN close behind. The light on the sugar fades.

MURIEL
Mollie.

MOLLIE
Oh - I’m coming, Muriel.

MURIEL
You’re supposed to be helping us.

MOLLIE
I worked. I have a stone in my
hoof.

MOLLIE runs off. MURIEL calls after her.

MURIEL
The same stone as yesterday? The same stone
as last week?

Still frustrated, MURIEL looks at BENJAMIN.

How did you vote on Snowball’s barley

scheme yesterday?

BENJAMIN
I didn’t vote.

MURIEL
No – you never do, do you?

BENJAMIN
No – I never do.
 48

MURIEL
You’re just as bad as Mollie is.

BENJAMIN
What difference would it make?

MURIEL exits, frustrated.

Lights shift to the BARN.

SNOWBALL is drawing on the floor, using a piece of chalk, and

some books and papers as a reference.

Some of the ANIMALS – including NAPOLEON and SQUEALER – gather to

watch.

MAGGIE
What are you drawing, Snowball?

SNOWBALL
It is plans for a windmill, Sister.

MAGGIE
What is a windmill?

NAPOLEON
A windmill is an invention of Man.

SNOWBALL
A windmill is a small building with a
machine inside of it, and sails on
the outside of it. The sails catch the
wind, then spin around, and, in turn, make
the machine inside work. You see?

MAGGIE
No.

SNOWBALL
You will. The machine can supply a farm
like ours with electrical power that can
light our stalls and heat them in the
winter.

The ANIMALS react.

ALL
Heat, Snowball? Heat our stalls? What are
sails? That thing will make us warm at
night? How does it work? Can we build it
now?
 49

SNOWBALL
It can also run a circular saw, a chaff-
cutter, a mangel-slicer, and an automatic
milking machine.

JULIA
Oooo – what’s that?

SNOWBALL
One of many machines that can do our work
for us while we graze in the fields - or
improve our minds with reading and
conversation. By my calculations, once it
is completed, we would only have to work a
three-day week.

The ANIMALS react.

ALL
Three days. How does it work? That’s
wonderful. Can we build it now? How long
will it take?

NAPOLEON
Brother Snowball?

SNOWBALL
Yes, Brother?

NAPOLEON
I have just one thing I’d like to add to
the plans for your windmill.

SNOWBALL
And what is that?

NAPOLEON walks over to the drawings on the floor, lifts his leg -
and urinates on them.

NAPOLEON
Ahhhhhhhhh.

ALL
Oh my. Oh dear. Well, that’s rude. Somebody
had asparagus for lunch. Ewww.

NAPOLEON
There now – that’s much better.

Lights shift to MOLLIE in the FIELD. She stands, shivering harder

than before.
 50

MURIEL appears, alone.

MURIEL
Mollie.

MOLLIE
Oh - I’m coming.

MURIEL
I have something very serious to talk
to you about. This morning I saw you
talking to a Man in the Northeast field.

MOLLIE
That’s not -

MURIEL
Now, I’m not going to say anything to the
others if you stop this right now.

MOLLIE
But, I didn’t, Muriel.

MURIEL
Oh, I’m not blind. You let him stroke your
nose, and I saw him give you something to
eat - was it sugar? Lump sugar?

MOLLIE
You’re lying.

MURIEL
I hope you enjoyed it. Because you know
what taking that sugar is, don’t you?
That’s treason. It’s against everything
we’ve talked about, dreamed of, and worked
for. That sugar makes you a traitor to
Animal Farm.

MOLLIE
No, it doesn’t. I wasn't there. It isn't
true. It’s just not true.

Lights shift to the BARN.

SNOWBALL
That’s a lie. I never said building the
windmill would be easy, in fact for weeks
now I’ve been saying quite -

NAPOLEON works the floor - SQUEALER with him, now.

 51

SQUEALER
Great stones will have to be dragged to the
knoll to build the walls. The sails
will have to be stitched by hoof and claw
- and we need dynamos and cables.

NAPOLEON
Where does he propose we acquire these
things, my friends?

SNOWBALL
We can buy them with the profits from our
harvests.

SQUEALER
But if we’re building a windmill for a
year, at the same time we’re supposed to
be harvesting – how will we acquire
profits?

NAPOLEON
Better yet – what will we eat?

SQUEALER
We’ll starve to death, Brothers and
Sisters. That windmill will destroy us all.

Blackout.
 52

PART ONE - SCENE ELEVEN

BENJAMIN, alone.

BENJAMIN
Finally, the day of the windmill vote came.
But anybody with half a brain knew how it
would end up. It was the end of one of the
hardest winters we’d ever lived through –
we were cold, we were frustrated – and
Snowball had the solution.

Lights shift to the BARN. SNOWBALL, NAPOLEON and SQUEALER are in

the LOFT. SNOWBALL has stepped forward.

SNOWBALL
I propose we build a windmill on the knoll
in the long pasture in order to generate
electricity for Animal Farm.

He steps back.

SQUEALER
Brother Napoleon?

NAPOLEON steps forward.

NAPOLEON
This windmill is nonsense. I advise you all
to vote against it.

SNOWBALL jumps forward again.

SNOWBALL
Remember, my friends – electricity can
supply every stall and shed on Animal
Farm with its own light, hot and cold water
- and an electric heater.

Suddenly, NAPOLEON emits a scream-like squeal that stuns them

all. Outside the BARN: the snarling of DOGS.

NAPOLEON
Hear them? Those are the pups whose mother
died giving birth the night before our
Great Revolution. I took them in. I cared
for them in the small tool shed - until
now. Don’t you know them?
 53

Two enormous DOGS enter, weaving through the ANIMALS.

Well, trust me, Snowball – they know you.

Pointing to SNOWBALL, he squeals again. The DOGS bound up one

side of the LOFT. SNOWBALL screams, escapes down the opposite
side, and flies out of the BARN – the DOGS in pursuit. Screams
and growls fade in the distance.

NAPOLEON
May I have your attention, please?

The ANIMALS quiet.

Our system is broken. New policies are

needed. We simply cannot waste any more
time trying to take care of every single
animal’s wants and needs – we’ll starve to
death if we try. In future, any questions
related to the policies of Animal Farm will
be settled by a Special Committee of pigs -
presided over by me. We will meet in
private and afterwards, we will communicate
what we have decided to all of you.

The DOGS return – ascending the LOFT.

If any animal here has a difficulty with

this new arrangement, you may speak to me
privately about it.
(Beat.)
I welcome your thoughts and ideas.

The DOGS snarl.

Lights shift to BENJAMIN, alone – then, blackout.

END PART ONE

 54

PART TWO / SCENE ONE

Lights up on BENJAMIN, alone.

BENJAMIN
I’ve heard that when you’re on the
butcher’s block, the knives are so sharp
you don’t feel the first ones cut into
your belly. Sure, you struggle - but any
chance you had to stop what’s coming to you
passed so long ago it might as well be warm
air you breathed on your mother’s nose.
There’s nothing left to do but smile at the
butcher – and tell yourself that surely,
any second now, he’s going to undo those
straps. So it’s only when the blood seeps
up through your teeth that you finally
wonder: why does he hate me?

(Beat.)
But donkeys don’t taste good. So we
don’t have to die that way. We live a very
long time – and we see a lot. And maybe
some of us keep hoping that life won’t go
nearly as badly as we know it will.
(Beat.)
Maybe some of us are just that stupid.

Lights shift to SQUEALER and the ANIMALS outside the BARN.

SQUEALER
Listen, all of you: Napoleon would have
been only too happy to let you go on making
your own decisions - but what would happen
to all of us if you made the wrong ones?
Where would we be? Just look at the state
of our education system. After months and
months, how many of our brothers and
sisters can even read the Seven
Commandments? How many can recite their
ABCs? How many?

MURIEL
I’m trying my best. I’m trying the best I
know how, but it -

SQUEALER
Just suppose they had voted to follow
Snowball, with his deadly moonshine of
windmills? Snowball - who, as we know now -
was no better than a criminal.
 55

BOXER
He fought bravely at the Battle of the
Cowshed.

SQUEALER
Snowball's part in the Battle of the
Cowshed was exaggerated. I know things
about it that I wish I didn’t. Loyalty and
obedience are the watchwords for today, my
friends. One false step and our enemies
will destroy us. Is there anyone here who
wants the beatings and kickings and
whippings to resume? Is there anyone who
wants the Tyrant Jones to take over our
peaceful farm again?

ALL
No. No, of course not. Certainly not. No.

SQUEALER
I hope not - for all our sakes.

BOXER
If Brother Napoleon says it, it must be
right.

SQUEALER
Now that that’s settled, I need volunteers
to help me at the foot of the orchard.

BOXER
I will go.

MURIEL
So will I. What are we going to do?

SQUEALER
Brother Napoleon wants us to retrieve the
sacred skull bone of Old Major. To inspire
us at the Sunday meetings. The bone will be
clean by now.

Blackout.
 56

PART TWO / SCENE TWO

The ANIMALS sing themselves into their places for the new Sunday
meeting. NAPOLEON and his DOGS join SQUEALER in the LOFT. OLD
MALOR’s skull is displayed. PINKEYE raises the flag. MAGGIE mans
the shotgun.

ALL
“Beasts of Earth, and Beasts of Country,
Beasts of every land and clime - ”
Hearken to my joyful tidings
Of the Golden Future Time.”

“For that day we all must labor,

Though we die before it break;
Cows and horses, geese and turkeys,
All must toil for freedom’s sake.”

SQUEALER
All hail the Revolution.

ALL
All hail the Revolution.

SQUEALER
All hail Animal Farm.

ALL
All hail Animal Farm.

SQUEALER
All hail Brother Napoleon.
(Beat.)
All hail Brother Napoleon.

ALL
All hail Brother Napoleon.

The shotgun is fired. NAPOLEON steps forward.

NAPOLEON
My fellow animals - for most of the Spring,
the pig committee has been reviewing the
Traitor Snowball’s papers and notes.
And after drawing up entirely new and
better plans, we have decided that a
windmill would, indeed, greatly improve our
prospects for the future. Therefore, I am
pleased to announce that we will build a
windmill on the knoll in the long pasture
 57

in order to generate electricity for Animal

Farm.

The ANIMALS react.

This will mean much harder work for

everyone - and stricter food rations
because of it. But, I think you’ll agree,
the prospect of heated stalls far outweighs
the extra sacrifice.

The ANIMALS react.

It will take two years to complete the

work. Perhaps three.

Blackout.
 58

PART TWO / SCENE THREE

Lights shift to the QUARRY. SQUEALER and the ANIMALS.

SQUEALER
Napoleon was never opposed to the windmill.
That plan Snowball drew on the floor?

JULIA
Yes?

SQUEALER
It was stolen from Napoleon's papers. That
was his plan. The windmill was Napoleon’s
creation.

JULIA
Then why did he speak so strongly against
it at the meetings?

SQUEALER
That was Napoleon's cunning – and his
tactics. Do you know that word?

JULIA
No.

SQUEALER
Napoleon only seemed to oppose the
windmill, simply as a maneuver – a tactic -
to get rid of Snowball - who was really a
dangerous character and a bad influence on
the younger female animals we’re finding
out more all the time. But now that
Snowball is out of the way, the windmill
can go forward. Tactics. You see?

BENJAMIN
It’s just like lying, then.

SQUEALER
Yes - but with good reason. Now –

She looks out over the QUARRY.

SQUEALER
In order to start building we need
to bring the limestone rocks at the bottom
of the quarry up to the knoll.
 59

BENJAMIN
Those rocks down there.

They all look down.

SQUEALER
Yes.

BENJAMIN
They need to go all the way to the top of
the knoll –

They all look up.

- up there?

SQUEALER
That’s it, Brother.

MURIEL
How?

SQUEALER
We will carry them in carts – and we have
plenty of ropes to lash around them and
pull. Everyone will pitch in. Also – those
boulders?

BENJAMIN
I see them.

SQUEALER
They will need to be pushed over the side
of the quarry so that they will break up on
the rocks below. Then returned in smaller
pieces –

BENJAMIN
- to the top of the knoll.

MURIEL
How do we bring the big ones up?

SQUEALER
We have plenty of ropes.

Beat. They all look at BOXER.

BOXER
I will work harder.
 60

BENJAMIN
Is that the only way to break them up?

SQUEALER
Unless you can stand up on your hind legs
and swing a pickax, yes - stupid donkey.

BOXER
It’s fine. The work will be good for me.

Lights shift to BENJAMIN, alone. To us:

BENJAMIN
Even though the work was very hard that
summer, we weren’t badly off, I
suppose. We got less food than in
Snowball’s day – but more than we got from
Jones.

Lights shift to the QUARRY. The ANIMALS move rocks and sing –
this is the RITUAL OF ROCKS.

BOXER pulls a cart through the center. BENJAMIN tries to help. As

they pass an ANIMAL, he or she falls silent.

BOXER
There.

BENJAMIN
Good – now take a rest.

BOXER
No. I will work harder.

BENJAMIN
A horse's lungs don’t last forever.

BOXER
I am eleven years’ old, and next year -
according to the Retirement Resolution for
Horses – I will retire on pension to the
corner of the large pasture. I’d like to
see this windmill done before it’s time.

BENJAMIN
No one’s retired on pension yet, have they?

BOXER
I believe I will be the first. I will
receive five pounds of corn a day and, in
 61

the winter, fifteen pounds of hay - with a

carrot or an apple every Revolution Day.

BENJAMIN
That will be nice for you.

BOXER
It will be the first time in my life that I
have had a chance to study and improve my
mind. I will devote the rest of my life to
learning the whole alphabet.

BENJAMIN
There are more important things than
knowing how to read.

BOXER
Do you think so?

BENJAMIN
When have you ever needed to read anything?

BOXER
But Muriel says -

BENJAMIN
Muriel eats the paper off tin cans. Better
to relax in that field out there and not
trouble yourself with things you don’t
need. You’ve earned the rest more than
they have.

BOXER
Why have you not retired on pension,
Brother? You are beyond the age, aren’t
you?

BENJAMIN
Oh - I’ve lived far too long to retire.

Blackout.
 62

PART TWO / SCENE FOUR

MURIEL and BENJAMIN speak with MOSES. At her feet is a small pile
of lump sugar and colorful ribbons. During the following,
NAPOLEON crosses upstage with his DOGS.

MOSES
I saw her, oh yes. It was Mollie – indeed,
it was. She was standing outside a dress
shop in town, between the shafts of a very,
very nice red, red and black dogcart. A Man
was stroking her nose and feeding her
sugar, yes.

BENJAMIN
It wasn’t Jones, was it?

MOSES
No – this Man was rich. You could tell.

MURIEL
How did she look?

MOSES
She looked happy – happy as I’d ever seen
her. Her coat was clipped, and she had a
red, red ribbon tied to her forelock.

NAPOLEON crosses to them.

NAPOLEON
Of course, she’s happy. She’s a slave.
She’ll never have to think for herself
again.

MOSES
Here I go, then.

He flaps off. NAPOLEON sees the ribbons and sugar.

NAPOLEON
What are these?

MURIEL
Ribbons and sugar cubes. I found them
hidden in her stall, Brother – just after
she disappeared.

NAPOLEON
I see. Would you like me to destroy them
for you?
 63

MURIEL
No, thank you. I’ll keep them a little
longer. They mean something to me.

NAPOLEON
You’re a good worker, Muriel –
a fine example of Animalism - and you have
a kind heart. I can’t fault you for that.
But after Sunday, it will be a crime
against the Farm to ever speak of Mollie
the Horse again – I’m sorry.

He and the DOGS exit.

MURIEL
We’re so much better off than she is.

BENJAMIN
Are we?

MURIEL
We work for each other - and for those who
come after us. We don’t do this strapped to
a cart for some man with lumps of
sugar and a whip in his hand. You don’t
believe it – you don’t believe in anything
- but it’s true.

MURIEL exits with the objects. To us:

BENJAMIN
All that year we worked together. We didn’t
grudge any sacrifice, as long as we were
all in. And if we had a problem with what
the pigs were doing – most here weren’t
able to build an argument against any of it
anyway. Those of us who could - didn’t. And
why should we? We had food to eat, a dry
place to sleep, and an idea to believe in
if we wanted. No one starved, no one
whipped me. The pigs took responsibility
for running the farm, and they had the
dogs. Why complain? Why do anything but
live to work?

Lights remain on BENJAMIN, but shift to include NAPOLEON and

SQUEALER in the LOFT. To ALL:

SQUEALER
Two fields weren’t sown in June, because
the plowing was not completed early enough
 64

- which means that this year’s harvest will

suffer. There will be extra work available
to any animal who wishes to volunteer for
it. Strictly voluntary. However, any animal
who does not take advantage of this
opportunity will need to have his or her
weekly food rations readjusted.

BENJAMIN
That means cut in half. Winter was on the way.

Blackout.
 65

PART TWO / SCENE FIVE

Lights up on the QUARRY in mid-winter, as MURIEL and BENJAMIN

watch BOXER, with all his strength, pull a boulder.

MURIEL
You can make it, Boxer. You can do it.

BENJAMIN
Don’t think about the cold.

BOXER
Please.
(Beat.)
Sing.

BENJAMIN
What?

BOXER
Sing. Sing it to me.

MURIEL/BENJAMIN
(Fast.)
“Beasts of Earth, and Beasts of Country,
Beasts of every land and clime –

BOXER presses on. Lights shift to NAPOLEON in the LOFT.

ALL
“Hearken to my joyful tidings,
of the Golden Future Time.”

“For that day we all must labor,

Though we die before it break;
Cows and horses, geese and turkeys,
All must toil for freedom’s sake.”

NAPOLEON
My friends, a new policy, due to the poor
harvests: come Spring, Animal Farm will
engage in trade with the neighboring farms.

There is silence.

Not, of course, for any commercial purpose,

but simply to obtain materials which are
urgently necessary. The needs of the
windmill must override everything else. I
am therefore making arrangements to sell a
stack of hay, part of the current year's
 66

corn crop - such as it is – and a stack of

timber, in the town. Later on, if more
money is needed, I am sorry to say that it
will have to be made up by the sale of
eggs.

The ANIMALS react.

ALL
Sell eggs? He said he was going to sell
eggs. That’s against the law.

MAGGIE
What? What did he say? Sell our eggs?
We’ll die first. Sell your piglets for
bacon. You’ll never get them.

NAPOLEON
Sister – everyone - I appreciate your concerns,
but you really should welcome this
sacrifice as your own special contribution
toward the building of the windmill.

MAGGIE
We’ll never give up our eggs.

PINKEYE steps forward.

PINKEYE
Brother Napoleon?

NAPOLEON
What is it, Pinkeye?

MAGGIE
It’s murder.

PINKEYE
I think I speak for many of us when I say
that the idea of the farm selling eggs for
money runs contrary to some of our earliest
resolutions.

JULIA
Yes – didn’t we pass something against
that?

NAPOLEON
No resolution against engaging in trade has
ever been passed.
 67

SQUEALER
It hasn’t even been suggested.

MAGGIE
Lay your own eggs if you need them.

PINKEYE
I remember it distinctly: barter is
acceptable but selling anything for money –
especially newborn animals – is forbidden.

JULIA
I remember that too.

NAPOLEON
I suppose it all depends on whether you define a
chicken egg as a newborn animal.

MAGGIE
Well, I sure do.

NAPOLEON
We certainly aren’t suggesting selling off
calves or piglets for the slaughter.

MAGGIE
What’s the difference?

NAPOLEON
I don’t - does anyone else remember this
resolution?

MAGGIE
I remember every one of my eggs – that’s
what I remember.

SQUEALER
Quiet, Maggie.

MAGGIE
You be quiet.

SQUEALER
Did this magical trade resolution come from
Snowball? It’s probably lies circulated by
him.

NAPOLEON
I should think so.
 68

PINKEYE
No, Brother – we were all here, and we all
voted.

JULIA
I’m sure I remember it.

SQUEALER
Do you have a record of such a resolution
being passed?

JULIA
Don’t I remember it?

SQUEALER
Something written down?

PINKEYE
Surely someone must have –

NAPOLEON
Is it written down anywhere?

MAGGIE
It doesn’t have to be written down.

SQUEALER
Be quiet, you stupid chicken.

NAPOLEON
(To JULIA.)
Well, is it, Julia?

JULIA
Well, I didn’t write it down, but I’m sure
that someone -

NAPOLEON signals the DOGS. They growl low.

NAPOLEON
Then it doesn’t exist.
(To ALL.)
I have already made the arrangements. There
will be no need for any animal besides
myself to come in contact with any human
being. A lawyer named Mr. Whymper has
agreed to act as intermediary between
myself and the other Men.

In the distance, the sound of a car approaching.

 69

That’s his car now. Every week at this

time, he will drive out to receive his
instructions, personally, from me.
 70

PART TWO / SCENE SIX

Lights shift to the YARD.

Several of the ANIMALS watch as, offstage, a car approaches and

parks. NAPOLEON and his DOGS cross off toward it.

MURIEL
It makes me so proud.

BENJAMIN
Does it?

MURIEL
Our Leader, giving orders to a man? Yes, it
does. It is a great day for the Revolution.

JULIA appears.

JULIA
Muriel - read me the Fourth Commandment,
would you? Doesn’t it say something about
never sleeping in a bed?

MURIEL
Oh – yes, I believe so, Julia.
(Looking.)
It says – let’s see - it says: “No
animal shall sleep in a bed – “

JULIA
Well, I thought so.

MURIEL
- with sheets.”

JULIA
What?

MURIEL
“No animal shall sleep in a bed with
sheets.”

JULIA
I don’t think I remember that last part, do
you?

MURIEL
Which part?
 71

JULIA
“ – with sheets.”

MURIEL
No, I don’t really remember it, either. But
it’s been a while since I’ve read them –
and it’s right there on the wall. Why?

JULIA
Because the pigs are sleeping in the
farmhouse.

MURIEL
Are they?

JULIA
In the beds there, yes. For a couple of
days, now.

MURIEL
Well – maybe it’s more dignified for
Brother Napoleon to sleep there, now that
we’re trading with Men.

SQUEALER, listening, steps forward.

SQUEALER
No, sister – it just seems more dignified.
To a Man like Mr. Whymper – you
see? Tactics.

JULIA
But you’re taking your meals in the
kitchen, and using the drawing room, too.

SQUEALER
You didn’t actually think there was
a ruling against beds themselves, did you?
Please tell me you’re not that stupid.

JULIA
No, I’m – but I remember –

SQUEALER
A pile of straw is a bed, after all. The
rule – as you can plainly see - was against
sheets - which are a human invention.
Therefore, we have removed the sheets from
the farmhouse beds, and sleep between
blankets. Simple.
 72

SQUEALER exits. MURIEL returns to BENJAMIN, watching the meeting

offstage.

MURIEL
What is it?

BENJAMIN
Over there by the car - Mr. Whymper just
gave Napoleon a gift.

MURIEL
What did he give him?

BENJAMIN
A bottle of whiskey.

Lights shift to BENJAMIN. To us:

A bottle the pigs put to good use that

night in the farmhouse.

The YARD at night.

From inside the FARMHOUSE: singing, arguing, plates smashing,

music.

BENJAMIN listens.

I stood in the shadows of the barn for

hours and listened to them. Muriel did, too
– from over by the corn crib – but I don’t
think she wanted anybody to see her, so I
left her alone. What difference did it
make?

SQUEALER bangs out of the house, mumbling to herself. She

travels.

And then around three o’clock in the

morning, the Squealer appeared with a paint
brush and bucket – headed for the Wall of
Commandments.
(Beat.)
She climbed the ladder set there, slapped
something new on the end of the Fifth with
her brush - climbed down again, and then
staggered back into the farmhouse.

BENJAMIN approaches the wall.

 73

The Commandment now read: “No animal shall

drink alcohol – “
(Beat.)
“ – to excess.”

Blackout.
 74

PART TWO / SCENE SEVEN

The QUARRY: BOXER and the ANIMALS struggle to move a boulder.

SQUEALER sits nearby, watching. She eats an apple, with a bucket

of milk by her side.

The others drag the boulder to its place, then head back to drag
another one.

Lights shift to MURIEL and BENJAMIN. There is thunder in the

distance.

MURIEL
Did you hear Brother Napoleon sold off part
of the hay and corn?

BENJAMIN
A part we could’ve eaten.

MURIEL
He had to -

BENJAMIN
- because the windmill’s worth it, right?

MURIEL
The windmill is worth it all. I like to
walk round and round it with the others,
feeling the strength of the walls, and how
tall they’re getting. It’s the first time
I’ve ever built anything.

SQUEALER
Hold! That’s three. Seventy-four more, and
the walls will be up almost half-way.

Off in the distance an enormous crash is heard. All freeze.

MURIEL
What was that? It came from the knoll.

BOXER
The windmill?

MURIEL
Oh no - oh no - oh no - oh no.

The ANIMALS start off. NAPOLEON steps forward.

NAPOLEON
Wait, my friends – wait.
 75

ALL freeze. He sniffs.

Do you smell it?

BENJAMIN
I can’t smell anything in rain.

NAPOLEON
I can smell another pig no matter what
the weather. And I smell Snowball.

The ANIMALS react.

ALL
Snowball. It’s Snowball. He’s come back.
Hide. Help us. What does he want? Save us.

NAPOLEON
He has crept here under the cover
of the storm and destroyed our windmill.

The ANIMALS react.

ALL
Oh no. Snowball has crept in here and
destroyed our windmill. He knocked it down.
What will we do? Save us, Napoleon. What if
he destroys the barn?

NAPOLEON
Brothers and sisters, here and now I
pronounce the death sentence upon
Snowball – and his confederates. There are
traitors among us, my friends. I can smell
them. And I fully intend to root them out.
The committee of pigs will hold a special
investigation, and we will bring the
responsible parties – whoever they may be -
to justice.

Blackout.
 76

PART TWO / SCENE EIGHT

The ANIMALS wait in the YARD.

NAPOLEON enters, followed by SQUEALER. They take their position,

and NAPOLEON signals off.

NAPOLEON
Bring the prisoners before us.

The DOGS enter, dragging MAGGIE, JULIA, and PINKEYE with them.

Each of the THREE has been beaten - a burlap sack is pulled over
their heads.

The DOGS line them up facing the other ANIMALS.

Remove the sacks from their heads, so that

all may see their eyes as they answer.

They do so. Low, distressed reactions to the prisoners’ state

ripple through the crowd.

ALL
Blood. Oh dear. No. They’ve been beaten.
They’re bloody.

BOXER
This is – not right, is it?

NAPOLEON
Be silent, everyone.

ALL are quiet.

Confess your crimes, Pinkeye.

MURIEL lunges forward.

MURIEL
Yes. Confess it all. Confess – you traitor.

BOXER and BENJAMIN are taken aback by the ferocity of her

reaction.

PINKEYE
I - have been secretly in touch with
Snowball ever since he ran away. And I –
oh - collaborated with him in destroying
the windmill, yes. And - I have entered
 77

into an agreement with him to hand over

Animal Farm back to Mr. Jones.
(Beat.)
I’m so sorry – I’m so very sor –

NAPOLEON
What else?

MURIEL
Tell all of it.

PINKEYE
Oh, I forgot – I’m sorry. Snowball, uh
– admitted to me privately that he had
been Jones’ secret agent all along. All
along – the whole time.

NAPOLEON
Is that all?

PINKEYE
Is that - ? Yes.

NAPOLEON
Then I sentence you to death by tooth and
claw.

NAPOLEON emits the scream-like squeal he uses to control his

DOGS.

The DOGS tear PINKEYE apart.

BOXER
No.

MURIEL
Yes – tear his throat out. Make him pay.

The other ANIMALS stand, stunned.

NAPOLEON
Now - confess your crimes, Maggie.

MURIEL
Yes, confess, you stupid bird.

MAGGIE
I was a ringleader in the planning of an
Egg Revolt. Snowball appeared to me in a
dream, and –
(Beat.)
 78

SQUEALER
“Incited.”

MAGGIE
Yes – incited me to disobey Napoleon’s
orders.

NAPOLEON
What else?

MURIEL
What else? Tell us all of it.

MAGGIE
I hid six ears of corn during last year's
harvest and ate them in the night.

NAPOLEON
Is that all?
(Beat.)

MAGGIE
I - think so.

NAPOLEON
Then I sentence you to death by tooth and
claw.

NAPOLEON again emits the scream-like squeal.

The DOGS move toward MAGGIE.

Suddenly, BOXER steps out. He knocks over one of the DOGS,

pinning him to the ground with his hoof.

BOXER
No – this is wrong, Brother. Call them off,
or I will stop them myself.

The ANIMALS freeze.

NAPOLEON
(Reasonable.)
Brother Boxer – do not interfere with
justice. This is for the good of everyone.

BOXER
It is?

NAPOLEON
Of course, it is. Why would we do this
otherwise? Please be brave. Please don’t
 79

make things harder than they already have

to be.
(Beat.)

BOXER
I am sorry for you, Maggie.

He relents. NAPOLEON again emits the squeal. The DOGS tear MAGGIE
apart.

MURIEL
Yes. Yes. Rip her apart.

Silence.

NAPOLEON
And finally: confess your crimes, Julia.

Lights shift to JULIA, alone. To us:

JULIA
This is not our farm. This is not what we
wanted. This is not what we hoped for. We
wanted a society of animals set free from
hunger and the whip. All equal - each
working according to his gifts - the strong
protecting the weak – like we protected the
box of dog pups that first night when Old
Major spoke to us. I don’t remember things
– but I remember that. The pups. Not this,
though – this is not ours. A place where no
one speaks their mind and the grown dogs
roam and bare their teeth. Where you never
understand what you did wrong but try to be
a good worker. Where everyone – even Boxer
- watches their brothers and sisters torn
apart and can’t bring themselves to stop
it.
(Beat.)
I would say these things out loud – but I
don’t have the words to say them.

Lights shift back to the YARD.

NAPOLEON
Confess.

MURIEL
Confess it all. Say it.

JULIA
I – I urinated in the drinking pool.
 80

(Beat.)
Snowball told me to

NAPOLEON
Is that all?

JULIA
Yes.

NAPOLEON
Well, fortunately, for you – your cow’s
milk is precious to our sustenance.
Therefore, your life will be spared.

MURIEL
No.

JULIA
Oh. Th - thank you.

NAPOLEON
But just barely.

NAPOLEON emits the squeal. The DOGS tear into JULIA.

Blackout.
 81

PART TWO / SCENE NINE

The YARD after the slaughter.

BENJAMIN and BOXER stand together. MURIEL stands apart.

BOXER
I do not understand it. I would not have
believed that such things could happen on
Animal Farm. It must be our own fault.

BENJAMIN approaches MURIEL.

BENJAMIN
Read me the Sixth Commandment, Muriel.

MURIEL
Read it yourself.

BENJAMIN
Read me the Sixth Commandment. What does it
say?

MURIEL looks up.

MURIEL
It says, “No animal shall kill any other
animal – “
(Beat.)
“ – without cause.”

BENJAMIN
Funny, I don’t remember that last part –
“ - without cause.” Do you?

MURIEL
Of course I do. That’s what’s always been
there.

BENJAMIN
Paint looks fresh to me.

MURIEL
It’s always been like that.

BOXER
(Singing.)
“For that day we all must labor,
Though we die before it –
 82

SQUEALER appears.

SQUEALER
Boxer?

BOXER
Yes?

SQUEALER
Brother Napoleon has decreed that it is now
forbidden to sing “Beasts of the Country”
on this farm.

MURIEL
What? Why would he take that away?
That’s our song. It’s our right to sing it.

SQUEALER
It was the song of the Revolution - but the
Revolution is now complete. The execution
of the traitors this afternoon showed us
that a better society has now been
established. The song no longer has any
purpose. Stop singing it.
(To ALL.)
And sleep well – we start rebuilding the
windmill in the morning. And this time, the
new walls will be three feet thick.

She exits. BOXER looks to MURIEL.

BOXER
The only solution is to work harder. From
now on, I shall get up a full hour
earlier in the mornings, and not waste my
time on letters and words. You were right,
Benjamin – there are more important things.

Lights shift to BENJAMIN, alone.

BENJAMIN
And it was in the Spring - a month before
his twelfth birthday - when they came to
tell me Boxer had collapsed at the quarry.
We rushed to the stall where he had been
taken: myself and Muriel - and Julia.
Julia, who had survived the dogs’ attack
but was now broken and blind.

Blackout.
 83

PART TWO / SCENE TEN

Lights on BOXER’s STALL. He lies on his side, breathing heavily.

JULIA – a bandage covering her eyes – stands nearby, next to
BENJAMIN and MURIEL.

JULIA
Your breathing sounds better by the minute,
Boxer.

BOXER
Oh, don’t worry, Julia. I will get better.

BENJAMIN
I told you, a horse’s lungs don’t last
forever.

BOXER
Oh - it is nothing.

SQUEALER appears.
SQUEALER
(To BOXER.)
Brother Napoleon made arrangements for
an ambulance to pick you up tomorrow, so
you can be treated at the hospital in the
town.

JULIA
In the town?

MURIEL
Can we trust the townspeople?

SQUEALER
I think so – they’re doctors, after
all. The veterinary surgeon can treat his
case much more satisfactorily in the
hospital, than he can here on the farm.
(To BOXER.)
Whymper said they will come for you in the
late afternoon, so everyone will be able to
see you off after the day’s work is done.

BOXER
Thank you, Sister. And thank Brother
Napoleon for me.

SQUEALER
It’s the very least we can do.
 84

She exits.

BOXER
How will you move the rocks without me?

BENJAMIN
Well, we’ll just have to figure that out
on our own, because - congratulations,
my friend – you have officially retired one
month early.

BOXER
Oh. Have I?

BENJAMIN
Yes, you have.

BOXER
Then retire with me. There’s no reason not
to, now.

BENJAMIN
We’ll see. Are you in much pain?

BOXER
Some – but I am looking forward to the
peaceful days that you and I might spend
together on pension in the corner of the
big pasture. Oh, you’ll like retirement -
once I talk you into it.

Blackout.
 85

PART TWO / SCENE ELEVEN

Lights up on SQUEALER in the YARD. A VAN motor is heard in the

distance. Calling off:

SQUEALER
Come on, the ambulance is here.

BOXER appears, supported by JULIA.

JULIA
(Her eyes bandaged.)
I thought it wasn’t coming until this
afternoon.

SQUEALER
Well, it got here early – that’s good,
isn’t it? Hurry up.

In the corner of the YARD, NAPOLEON appears with his DOGS. They
watch. The VAN’s motor switches off.

BOXER
That must be it. There’s lettering on the
side. The first letter is…”A”

SQUEALER
That’s right. “A” is for Ambulance.

JULIA
Let’s get you to it then.

SQUEALER
I’ll go ahead and talk to the driver.

She exits.

BOXER
Please be sure to tell everyone goodbye for
me, Julia.

JULIA
I will. I’ll tell Benjamin, especially –
I’ll tell them all you said goodbye.

BOXER
Thank you.

BOXER and JULIA cross off. Beat.

The doors of the truck are heard closing – and the motor starts
up again.
 86

BENJAMIN
Boxer? Where is he?

JULIA
They're just taking him away.

The truck pulls out. BENJAMIN looks off.

BENJAMIN
Oh no. Oh no. Stop that truck. No, Boxer -
get out of that truck. Kick open the doors.
Do something.

JULIA
What’s wrong?

BENJAMIN
How can we - ? How do we stop it?

MURIEL
We can’t. What’s wrong with it?

BENJAMIN
The side of the truck – didn’t you see what
it says?

MURIEL
No, I –

BENJAMIN
It says: “Alfred Simmonds – Dealer in Hides
and Bone-Meal.” Don’t you understand what
that means? They’re taking Boxer to the
slaughterhouse.

MURIEL
What?

JULIA
Oh no. I didn’t know.

She runs off in the direction of the VAN.

MURIEL
Boxer. Get out of there. Get out.
They’ll kill you. Get out quickly.

Her voice fades. Beat. To JULIA.

BENJAMIN
Couldn’t he read a little of what it said?
 87

JULIA
He knew the first letter was “A.”

She slumps away from him and exits.

BENJAMIN
Did I want this? I must have. Did I will
it? Of course, I did. I knew what they were
doing all along. I knew it, I could smell
it - and I just let it happen. When did I
ever try to stop them?
(Beat.)
My friend is dead. I cut his belly open
myself.

Lights shift.
 88

PART TWO / SCENE TWELVE

NAPOLEON in the LOFT. He holds the wad of cash SQUEALER received

for BOXER.

NAPOLEON
These rumors are simply false, and a
disgrace to his memory. Brother Boxer died
after a furious effort by hospital staff to
save him, and to believe otherwise is
treason against the farm. But, my fellow
animals – I must tell you of yet another
betrayal against us, on this already sad
and tragic day in our history. We have now
discovered that Mr. Whymper, in league with
the other Farmers, has used counterfeit
money to pay a debt to us. I have been
swindled, made a fool of – slapped in the
teeth with my own good faith. I therefore
have no choice but to officially declare
the death sentence upon the heads of
Whymper and the other Men – and to announce
that, as of this day, we are in a state of
war.

SQUEALER steps forward.

MURIEL
All hail Animal Farm.

BENJAMIN
All hail Animal Farm.

MURIEL
All hail Brother Napoleon.

BENJAMIN
All hail Brother Napoleon.

NAPOLEON throws the money in the air – a rain of cash. With ear-
splitting violence:

NAPOLEON
Death to Mr. Whymper. Death to all Men.

Blackout.
 89

PART TWO / SCENE THIRTEEN

The sounds of war – then fading to distant battles. Lights up on

BENJAMIN, alone.

BENJAMIN
Years of war passed - the seasons drifted
in and out. And the time came when there
were very few of us left who remembered
the old days before the Revolution. Muriel
died in battle – so many more. The farm was
more prosperous now: the first windmill had
been finished, then blown up in the wars,
then finished again. It was built as a mill
for grain, though – not to supply electric
lights and heat for our stalls. Another one
was being planned for that. There will
always be another windmill. Our lives were
pretty much as they’d always been: we were
hungry, and we worked in the fields.
Somehow it seemed as though the farm had
grown richer without making the animals
any richer – unless you were a pig, of
course.

BENJAMIN travels. Lights shift to JULIA – disabled and blind -

standing near the WALL. Hearing him:

JULIA
Ah - who is that, please?

BENJAMIN
It’s me, Julia.

JULIA
Oh, Benjamin - will you do me a favor?

BENJAMIN
Yes.

JULIA
Will you read the Seven Commandments to me?
I want to know if they’re the same as I
remember them.

BENJAMIN
Well, they’ve been changed, added to - so
many times, that -
 90

JULIA
What do you mean?
(Beat.)

BENJAMIN
There’s only one thing written on that
wall, now, Julia.

JULIA
And what is that?

BENJAMIN
“All animals are equal. But some
animals are more equal than others.”

Beat. JULIA drifts away.

JULIA
I understand. Thank you, Benjamin.

BENJAMIN
It’s the least I can do.

BENJAMIN travels. Nearby, MOSES the RAVEN flaps in, lights on a

post as before, and addresses us:

MOSES
O, there is a land, my Brothers and
Sisters. Have you heard of it? It is a land
where all the animals go when we die – if
we’re good. And if we work hard for our
true Masters, our Pigs. It is right there
waiting for us –
(He points.)
- a little distance beyond the clouds.
And it’s called Sugarcandy Mountain.

BENJAMIN
It’s been a while.

MOSES
It has, Brother. Still alive, I see.

BENJAMIN
Still alive. Where have you been all this
time?

MOSES
Oh, exercising my freedoms.
 91

Noises from the YARD. The DOGS bark and the ANIMALS chant: “Four
legs good – two legs BETTER.” BENJAMIN looks off.

BENJAMIN
What’s the commotion over there?

MOSES
Mr. Whymper and the other Men have arrived
for the Great Peace Conference in the
Farmhouse, Brother – and the pigs – O, our
wise Masters – have dressed themselves, and
risen up on two legs to greet them.

The crack of a whip.

BENJAMIN
Looks like they found a whip, too.

MOSES
O yes – spare the rod, Brother, spare the
rod.

BENJAMIN turns to him.

BENJAMIN
Sure. By the way?

MOSES
Yes?

BENJAMIN
Sugercandy Mountain?

MOSES
O yes, Brother.

BENJAMIN
No one believes in that, you know.

MOSES
I know - but it’s all that I have.
(Beat.)

BENJAMIN
Goodbye, bird.

MOSES
Here I go, then.

MOSES flaps away. BENJAMIN turns to watch the spectacle in the

distance.
 92

BENJAMIN
Donkeys live a long, long time. And we see
a lot of things. And maybe some of us keep
hoping that life won’t go nearly as badly
as we all know that it will. Maybe some of
us are just that stupid. Or maybe some of
us hope for the best but expect the worst –
and do absolutely nothing to stop it.

Sounds of the Peace Conference in the YARD.

As I watched them in the distance – the men

and the pigs on two legs at their Peace
Conference – it seemed to me a strange
thing was happening. What was it that had
altered in all their faces? I looked from
pig to man, and from man to pig, and from
pig to man again – but already it was
impossible to say which was which.

END OF PLAY