SKIPTON director Nikolai Foster has never forgotten his first theatrical encounter. “I remember going to the theatre as a schoolboy with everyone chewing gum,” he says.

It is a recollection that made him determined to present exciting productions, not least when confronted with a school set text such as Orwell’s political allegory.

“I never want to just please the audience; my job is to serve the play, but I did think, ‘in what ways can I make this story accessible?’.

“And by making it accessible, I don’t mean dumbing it down, but challenging audiences head on, as they like to have that challenge, to have to think in a dynamic and slightly off-the-wall way.”

Orwell’s novel was a comment on the Russian Revolution, but its message is timeless, according to Nikolai.

“The themes that he was writing about are sadly more relevant than ever. We’ve set it in its time but you could set it now with Robert Mugabe as Napoleon the pig, as the despotic parallels are very palpable.”

Growing up in the North Yorkshire countryside just outside Skipton, Nikolai has called on his own youthful farming experiences for his production.

“I was always working on the farms, and I wanted to be a jockey, well a cross-county event rider, but I guess the theatre took over,” he recalls.

“Both were great passions, but theatre got hold of me and wouldn’t let go.

“Although in some ways they couldn’t be more chalk and cheese, I think there are similarities in that both the farming world and the theatre world need initiative and imagination, and they’re both about creating things and using resources around you.”

After Bollywood Jane and Salonika, the arrestingly grotesque Animal Farm completes a hat trick of productions at the West Yorkshire Playhouse for the 28-year-old Foster.

“You couldn’t get more different shows: a play about the Mumbai film industry, a play about loneliness on a Greek beach, and then one about the Russian Revolution,” he says.

Straight after Animal Farm, Nikolai has another contrasting task awaiting him: “I’m off to South Africa to finish casting Aspects Of Love. It’ll be fascinating to see how people in Johannesburg respond to it.”

* Animal Farm, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, tonight at 7.30pm, tomorrow at 2pm and 7.30pm. Box office: 0113 213 7700.