It’s refreshing to watch a take on Animal Farm that is less about heavy-handed political posturing and much more about artistic expression. That’s what we have in Synetic Theater's latest, a production that incorporates multi-media accents, impressive choreography and most of all amusing and effective anthropomorphic performances from their team of farm residents.

The familiar allegory of the story is pretty straightforward; a group of pigs, hens and horses revolt against their oppressive farmer and decide to take over leadership of the farm themselves. An egalitarian system soon gives way to tyranny, and the animals become as oppressive and oppressed as they once were under the original regime.

Animal Farm relies heavily, and expertly, on the use of a large video screen on which some of the work’s scenes are played out. But the live and pre-recorded moments blend seamlessly together – animals disappear backstage and appear onscreen so quickly, you’d swear they were leaping right onto the screen. The device also adds a nice, eerie feeling of oppressive surveillance to the proceedings.

As always with Synetic, choreography is a major strong point of the production. There's the wrenching scene where the animals become less and less able to complete their arduous physical labor (theater companies eager to incorporate slow motion, an overused trick, into their works, should leave it to Synetic, whose dancers isolate every movement like no others). And there’s the wonderful, often laughable, fight and chase sequences between the farmers and animals – throughout the production, choreographer Irina Tsikurishvili frequently invokes the feeling of an old, speed-screen film reel.

Synetic’s productions always put an emphasis on their talented ensemble, but Animal Farm also showcases individual talent, from Irakli Kavsadze’s fine physical comedy moments, to the heartbreaking bond between two horses, Courtney Pauroso and the ever-noble Boxer (Ben Cunis), whose final scene together is the show's most moving moment.

As we watch the pigs and the humans consumed by gluttony in the work’s final scene, eagerly gobbling their chocolate, it’s a very funny scene, but it also communicates an uneasy sense of foreboding. It's much like this Animal Farm itself; a joy to watch, but it is never without a smart undercurrent of the ominous.

Animal Farm runs through May 20 at Rosslyn Spectrum. Tickets are available online.