Image: Manuel Harlan
The legacy of George Orwell’s novel 1984 has become such a part of our lives – from Big Brother to room 101 – it is unsurprising that the producers of this rightly acclaimed interpretation of the iconic book follow suit.
The performance lasts 101 minutes and each night, 101 tickets are sold for £19.84.
The story is so well known but the novel itself is difficult – with large sections given to exploring the political rhetoric – ‘telling it straight’ might make for dull theatre. But this production is anything but. Directors Robert Icke and Duncan MacMillan have cleverly used Orwell’s Appendix at the end of the novel as their starting point. In fact it’s so clever it makes one wonder why it had not been done before.
So we start in a kind of book club; with a hotchpotch of intellectuals discussing Winston’s story. Throughout this cosy, familiar discussion, menace is introduced – the audience’s minds are messed with – lights go down, the house is pitch dark (even the Emergency Exit signs are switched off), characters appear, and disappear; we flit from past to present.
There are moments in this production that are genuinely chilling and gut-wrenching. Sam Crane, as Winston Smith, disintegrates before our eyes, as the softly-spoken calm and controlled O’Brien (Tim Dutton) seems only to rise in stature.
The depiction of life under Big Brother is wonderfully executed in the canteen scenes, repeated several times but with redactions each time; this is history constantly rewritten in real time.
The audience is drawn in – voyeurs in the love story of Julia and Smith. We watch through a projected screen as they snuggle up and escape in Charrington’s back room; just waiting for the party machine to pounce; and when it does it is brutal, with noise, lights and screams that eventually reveal a transformed set, created by Chloe Lamford, which will be the scene of Smith’s re-education.
The brilliant cast keep the ebb and flow of the storytelling brilliantly; this really is an ensemble piece though mention must be made of the assured performance of young Asha Banks.
Headlong’s collaboration with the Almeida and Nottingham Playhouse is rightly bringing in the crowds – the London run has been extended before it continues its tour of regional venues.
I would have finished this review much sooner had I not spent far too long exploring the brilliant Explore pages at www.headlong.co.uk that educate, inspire and inform in equal measure.
