1984 - Big Brother is Watching! Are You?

The George Orwell classic 1984. Photo credit the Criterion Theatre.

1984 By George Orwell, on at The Criterion Theatre, Coventry, until 26 October. Directed by Stephen Brown.

Review by Alison Manning.

Over the next week there is the chance to be drawn into the world of 1984 at the Criterion Theatre in Earlsdon, Coventry, directed by Stephen Brown. Big Brother is watching you and the Party are in power, with telescreens everywhere, backed up by the Thought Police, to control people’s thoughts and actions and even memories.

Working in the Ministry of Truth, with the unenviable task of deleting records in order to “unperson” individuals who are to be wiped from the system, and from history, Winston Smith instinctively feels that things aren’t right, such as the declaration that chocolate rations are to be increased to 20g, when he thinks he remembers them being ‘raised’ to 20g the previous day, and the day before that. This even extends to who they are at war with, with the myth perpetuated that they were always at war with the same nation.

This play version of George Orwell’s novel, created by Robert Icke/Duncan Macmillan sets the back story of the plot from the opening scene with a group of historians from around a hundred years after 1984, discovering and studying Winston’s diary and learning about history through it. Just as 1984 was a futuristic date for George Orwell, at the time of writing the book, this seems to be an attempt to futurise the story now we have lived past that date.

Photo credit The Criterion Theatre.

Whilst an interesting premise, in doing this, however, it inevitably predicts the downfall of the Party which in Winston’s day seemed impregnable and impossible to defeat or destroy. It creates a possibly deliberately confusing opening. The scenes with the historians and their initial questioning directly of Winston: “Where do you think you are, Winston?” becomes a repeated phrase throughout the play, by various characters, often accompanied by flashing lights, both signalling sudden scene changes and adding to Winston’s confusion of what does and does not constitute reality, with some scenes partially repeated as Winston appears to live them more than once.

Winston was played well by Alice Scott, as a mixture or being dazed and afraid, but also with a deadly determination to fight back against the Party. Other performances of note were Megan Malonga’s strong portrayal of Julia and Lukasz Nowacki’s commanding performance of the mysterious O'Brien.

The powers that be decree that everyone takes part in a two-minutes of hate, a mockery of a moment of reflection, where the assembled characters ominously chant the oxymoronic party slogans, War is hate, Freedom is slavery, Ignorance is Strength, and jeer the enemy which the assembled cast deliver deafeningly in a moment of seemingly mass hysteria. It is at this point, however, that we see Winston’s doubt and shortly afterwards he receives a rebellious love note from Julia who had previously seemed fiercely pro the Party and Big Brother.  With romantic love forbidden, they begin a clandestine relationship and start to work out how they can join the rebellion of the brotherhood.

Winston played by Alice Scott. Photo credit the Criterion Theatre.

Together they connect with their forgotten past through secret foodstuffs obtained by Julia, that are no longer available publicly, such as real coffee, chocolate, sugar and fresh bread. It is the past that Winston fears the loss of most, the memory of such foodstuffs, the people who have disappeared and been deleted from records. He also fears the changing of historical facts, such as who they were at war with and for how long, losing the connection with the past and reality. Reality is threatened by the concept of doublethink, where two opposing views can both be believed at the same time. This is partly why he writes his diary, to record the truth as far as he can make it out, writing repeatedly that 2+2 equals 4. It is therefore ironic that the historians reading his diary question whether Winston himself was real or fictional.

This desire to preserve the past is echoed by the music in the play, underlying themes and connections with the past, in particular the poignant recurrent motif of the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons, half-remembered through characters’ recollections of vanished older relatives and sung by various characters throughout the play. Winston hears snatches of it and seeks to remember more and more of it, unwittingly drawing himself towards its gruesome conclusion of:  

“Here comes a candleTo light you to bed

And here comes a chopperTo chop off your head”

Foreshadowing the dramatic, sometimes gruesome, scenes of the second half of the play.

If you’re brave enough to immerse yourself in this world, 1984 is on at the Criterion Theatre till 26 October and tickets can be obtained from: https://criteriontheatre.co.uk/