When George Orwell wrote Animal Farm, he didn't have fire pools or load-shedding to draw on. But a South African theatre adaptation of the novel features an all-female cast who make comedic references to Nkandla and its fire pool - and tragic events like the Marikana massacre.Orwell's 1945 novel is an allegorical, dystopian account that explores power and corruption.The local production, directed by Neil Coppen, opens at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg on Tuesday and runs until September 6. It won two Naledi Theatre Awards - the Best Production for Young Audiences and Best Ensemble - earlier this year.The cast includes Mpume Mthombeni, Tshego Khutsoane, Mandisa Nduna, Khutjo Bakunzi-Greed, Zesuliwe Hadebe and MoMo Matsunyane.Coppen said: "I'm tired of women playing subservient roles on stage and seeing these stereotypes we enforce in theatre. Women making fun of men in power is a wonderful thing. We don't listen enough to women in this country."A talented woman can play anyone. Within the first minute of watching the production you don't see gender, you see extraordinary talent."The parallels between the novel and the current political milieu are uncanny, and "what better time to bring it here", said Hadebe, one of the actors.Coppen called it a "bleak comedy" that "cut close to the bone", especially regarding corruption and power...