‘Big Brother’ and ‘Newspeak’ are words integral to our daily lives, we hardly bat an eyelid when they are used. So how could Icke and Macmillan bring Orwell’s dystopia into the modern age?
In a fascinating adaptation, we are treated with disconcertingly looping scenes, a fierce O’Brien (Tim Dutton), and a rebellion present in a trembling Winston (Mark Arends) and a defiant Julia (Hara Yannas). Yet we are just another layer of the Thought Police; Ickes and Macmillan invite us to spy on the action, one method being a live feed to Winston and Julia’s secret hideout. We are invited into the action, and thus can draw our own fearful parallels to modern culture. It is an engaging, invigorating experience – the experiences of Room 101 are terrifying to the core. Make sure to catch this when it moves to the Playhouse Theatre (from 28th April), it certainly is ‘doublegood’.
http://www.playhousetheatrelondon.com/1984-play/ (running 28th April to 19th July)
Serena Basra