With the world under so much stress at the moment, I deliberated whether I should go see 1984 or not. I really wasn't in the mood for a lecture from the classic dystopian text I have known since I was a teenager - since 1984, in fact. I was so wrong. This play is exactly what we need right now.
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This play does not lecture or preach. It does not tell us what to believe or how to live. It simply asks us vital, fundamental questions and implores us to keep asking them in the present day. When Orwell wrote the iconic novel in 1948 he challenged readers to be vigilant; to always question what we are told by governments, media and the powers that be.
It's a warning. It's a call to arms. He wants us to rebel. To switch off the screens and take to the streets. To look at the world and say this isn't good enough.
The story follows everyman Winston Smith (Blake Selmes) who dares to think for himself while working for the Ministry of Truth, the propaganda arm of a totalitarian regime. The 'party' controls every aspect of people's lives in the giant machine state of Oceania with a combination of intense surveillance, terror and deprivation. Citizens are constantly watched on 'telescreens', encouraged to surveil one another and controlled through strategic rationing. A leadership cult around the mythical 'Big Brother' drives the population to orchestrated, collective hate of perceived enemies and endless updates of possibly fictional news.
Blake Selmes, continuously on stage throughout the 90 minute, one act performance, completely inhabits the role of Winston. Selmes skilfully enables the audience to experience his confusion, fear and hope as if it is our own. He is supported by a cast who take on multiple roles representing different aspects of the party's control with great synergy and tension. Like Winston, we never know who to trust and what to believe as the planned confusion becomes central to the story itself. Ryan Paranthoiene, Ben Pik, Thomas Chalker, Greg Angus, David Rayner and Kathy Campbell powerfully demonstrate the many ways in which ordinary, likeable people can easily and unwittingly become instruments of totalitarianism. Young actor Lily McKellar embodies the power of state control, alternating between innocently begging for rationed chocolate and ruthlessly accusing neighbours of being thought criminals. Courtney McKenzie's sympathetic Julia represents the love and humanity which drive Winston to finally take action against Big Brother. But just as with Julia's affections, the play leads us to question the intentions of every character.
The visual design of this production is stunning. The Lieder's ingenious set and costumes by Pauline Mullins and Helena Bozetto evoke a grimy, mid-twentieth century factory-state while the overlay of screens and projections remind us that Big Brother has so much more capacity for surveillance and influence in 2020 than he had in 1984. The skillful use of limited colour and naked human flesh contrasted against the pervading bleak military grey underscores the play's questions about what it means to be an individual human being caught in the middle of a state machine. High quality original music by Steve Routley and video content and projections produced by a team that included student filmmakers from Mulwaree High School, are integrated seamlessly into the production by tech team Andrew Rayner and Gary Vehtic in a way that has never been seen at the Lieder before.
This adaptation bookends the central story with the entire company discussing the impact of the novel in our contemporary world; explicitly connecting its messages to the world we know but sometimes fail to truly see. It states that the story contains a vision of the future no matter when it's being read. While the original story is not exactly optimistic, it does leave the audience with a powerful choice: we can simply hate who we are told to hate and hope for a small increase in chocolate rations or we can keep asking questions, challenging what we are told and believing in one another in the hope that we can overcome. I urge you to see this powerful production on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays until March 28.
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