When planning the Theatre School season, Program Director Ben Cole intentionally selects one play that engages with social issues affecting our local communities. These productions give students a supportive, age-appropriate space to wrestle with complex topics—and the confidence to carry those conversations beyond the stage and into their own lives. Past selections have explored mental health, female empowerment, environmentalism, grief, bullying, disabilities, coming-of-age, and LGBTQIA+ identity.
To strengthen and expand this meaningful work, we’re proud to launch the ProtoStar Social Issues Series. With the generous support of the ProtoStar Group, this new partnership will elevate our annual social-issues production—broadening its reach, deepening its educational and emotional impact, and expanding the resources we can offer students, families, and our Theatre School community.
Special Elements of the ProtoStar Social Issues Series
Student Matinees
- Subsidized Student Transportation
- Subsidized Student Tickets
Educational Resources/Opportunities
- Cast zoom discussion with local history and politics professors
- Play study guide (click here to read!)
- Post-performance talk-backs with actors and local community organizations (see the schedule below)
- Dramaturgical materials in the show’s program
For the 2026 iteration of the ProtoStar Social Issues Series, we will be presenting Animal Farm adapted by Ian Woolridge, from the book by George Orwell, performing February 19-22, 2026.
George Orwell’s satire on the perils of Stalinism has proved magnificently long-lived as a parable about totalitarianism anywhere and has given the world at least one immortal phrase: “Some are more equal than others.” The animals on a farm drive out their master and take over and run the farm for themselves. The experiment is successful, except that someone has to take the deposed farmer’s place. Leadership devolves upon the pigs, which are cleverer than the rest of the animals. Unfortunately, their character is not equal to their intelligence. This dramatization remains faithful to the book’s plot and intent and retains both its affection for the animals and the incisiveness of its message.
George Orwell’s Animal Farm is a work that, through the extensive use of allegory, recounts the tale of a group of farm animals who overthrow their farmer to build a new regime of justice and equality, run by and for the animals themselves. One of the most telling satiric fables ever penned – a razor-edged fairy tale that records the evolution from revolution against tyranny to totalitarianism just as terrible.
Produced by special arrangement with Dramatic Publishing (www.dramaticpublishing.com) and with support from the Protostar Group, and from our very special Theatre School donors!
To claim your free student ticket courtesy of the ProtoStar Group, use code PROTOSTAR at checkout or call the Box Office at (858) 481-1055!
Talkback Schedule:
Thursday, February 19th at 10:00 AM – Talkback with Theatre School Director Ben Cole and the cast of Animal Farm
Thursday, February 19th at 5:30 PM – Talkback with Jeffrey Demsky, Ph.D, Associate Faculty of Political Science at Mira Costa College
Sunday, February 22nd at 2 PM – Talkback with Jeffrey Demsky, Ph.D, Associate Faculty of Political Science at Mira Costa College
Jeff Demsky teaches political science and history at MiraCosta College. He holds a PH.D. from the University of Florida, and a Master’s Degree from the American University in Washington DC.
Professor Demsky has authored more than a dozen academic publications. He speaks frequently with audiences about political and social topics. Jeff first read Animal Farm during his high school years. He values its lessons.
If you’d like to learn more about how you can support programs like this one, please contact Geoffrey Geissinger at (858) 481-2155 x211 or geoffrey@northcoastrep.org
To learn more about the work of the ProtoStar Group, please visit https://protostargroup.com/
