George Orwell’s novel 1984 could never be described as easy light reading describing a grim dystopian future for the world with the human race being reduced to nothing more than robots, prevented from having original thought by some unseen and unexplained power. This version of the future was all the rage when the book was published in 1948 during the dawn of computers when advanced technology was the stuff of science fiction. However, not all that comes to pass in the book is so far-fetched; 1984 may have been a date not quite far enough ahead but today we are all watched and monitored by CCTV constantly, our lives are tracked by faceless Government computers and we accept this as normal.
The play is expertly put together, adapted and directed by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan. The set makes for added interest in combining film projection overhead with the action on stage, and there are some pretty startling special effects. It runs for 101 minutes (as in Room 101) without a break which keeps the mood of oppression and control at its optimum and if you are of a fidgety disposition, this is not the production for you!
The cast are excellent; Matthew Spencer carries a lot on his shoulders playing Winston, and displays a great range of emotions through Winston’s forbidden gentle love affair to his madness and torture when he finally betrays his girlfriend, Julia. She is played by Janine Harouni who makes her professional stage debut with a fine understanding of this two-sided character. Tim Dutton’s O’Brien is a force to be reckoned with, especially in the final scenes.
If you read the book in your youth, this production will bring it all back with bells and whistles (literally) and with it the wake-up call to be less accepting, more proactive in life otherwise in fifty years’ time the Thought Police may be coming to consign you to Room 101!
Jacquie Vowles