I Love Big Brother: 1984 at the Playhouse Theatre

George Orwell's 1984 is probably one of the texts’ that has most affected me in my life. I cannot say I have always loved it or that I did not struggle with its politics and deceptive language the first time I read it at 14 or 15. I loathed having to read the sections of O’Brien's book certainly. But I understood it and its suggestions burned deep within my psyche as a teenager, in a mind already troubled by pigs that looked like Stalin (aged 13). It was the beginning of my fervour for dystopian novels that lasted a few years, perfectly echoing my cynical teenage ways and I read my way through Atwood and Huxley, Burgess and HG Wells. 

Since GCSE coursework, I picked it up a couple of times at university for references but never read it properly again. Somehow it haunted me and the less than pleasant nature of the subject and the gruelling energy required for digestion somehow stopped me from rereading it. It's been 14 years. 

When the Headlong production at the Almeida Theatre received rave reviews, I knew I wanted to see it (it was at the Nottingham Playhouse prior to this). I knew that its relevance in today's screen-filled, observed world was almost not worth mentioning to the educated; I just wanted to see how it would be produced. Would it still shock and make one question everything. Or was I just older and less cynical now, hardened against Orwell's didactic warnings. Ready just to observe the way it was interpreted. Was I hell. 

I finally got tickets to the production when it transferred to the Playhouse Theatre on the Embankment and went in with no pre-conceptions with my standard theatre friend D. Light Wednesday viewing we knew it would not be,

“Will we be very depressed do you think, afterwards?”

“Most likely,” I answered, “but in the good way, the Byronic way, the I’ve just got angry about the world, but at least I’m involved way.. You know.”

The thing is, relative to Orwell’s message in the novel is, it did not depress me. Relative to my viewing of the great 1984 film Nineteen Eighty Four with John Hurt and Richard Burton, it did not either. This play is sharp and certainly encourages reflection, but it did not out and out depress me.

The creators, Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan have created a nimble yet intelligent adaptation. The set by Chloe Lamford is fabulous and so simple, one backdrop really, until Room 101, with a small bedroom partition as the sluttish “room with no screen” in the place that time stood still. The use of lighting, sound and video projections is also perfectly apt for this production, used wisely and well. Cracking through the senses at the exact points necessary and propelling Orwell’s far-too cliché-cluttered Room 101, back to its original terrifying form.

From the beginning of the play the presence of a crowd of people, unrecognisable characters who seem to be discussing Orwell’s novel, work as an impressive narrative tool... almost Brechtian, I thought, so aah... yes we are observing fiction here... This became more confusing as the play went on as characters in the “book club” seem to also be part of Winston’s life and unravelling. Nothing new there you may say, multiple roles, but it felt more uncomfortable, like they were sort of living part of his story as they discussed it, or had already lived it. Was it a novel or a case study or a history book, we may never know.

 

 

The lead actors, Sam Carne as Winston and Hara Yannas as Julia were also affective. Though both far too attractive, from what I remember of the novel, this did not affect your belief of them. Carne particularly plays Winston as the reluctant hero that we all know him to be. With a stuttering sort of character, never knowing whether he is in or out, or what he knows, seized by fits of passionate hatred and lulls of quiet dissonance.

The themes we know and love are still there. The demise of language into newspeak, something which thankfully worries me less now as it did 14 years ago, as I see more and more words enter our dictionaries; no snobbery against the #selfie please and thank-you. Yes, doublethink, well we know this can happen.

Screens, screens and watching us ALL THE TIME, for the paranoid luddites this will certainly ring true, for the normal person who browses the internet, this will feel like a nagging headache. Yes we should be careful. Even in the room with no screen they are seen. 

 Love. Is it there? I wasn’t convinced in this production, but then I never have been. From the moment I first read 1984, I did not believe in the love between Winston and Julia. She is his soapbox, his humanity, the one who shoves him from the comfort of thoughtcrime to out and out treason and hatred of Big Brother. But love, I don’t know. In this production, she very obviously personifies human desires, wants, needs, all the things banned by Big Brother. Chocolate and sex she is... To be honest, I always thought Orwell was a little unfair on Julia; he seems to hate her and love her equally. She is brave but where is this directed. Can we really believe that someone in that circumstance would only care about their animal wants while risking so much... but that’s just me.

A particularly resonating scene of the production for me was the two minutes hate, a government form of brainwashing by whipping the subjects into a frenzy of hate against the party enemies by showing them shocking footage. This is something where live action beats the page and although we all know about extremist regimes that practice this. It was recognising similar traits in our society that shivered down my spine. Hatred of particular groups or people is all too easy when we are looking for someone to blame.

Room 101... the terror, the torture the mind. This was also a chilling scene as I said. The set resembled a mental institute and reminded the audience or certainly me of the egocentric nature of our fear and our rebellion. Especially exaggerated in this production,

 “If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself.”

Well, yes and this is the route of all the fear of Big Brother, if he can change in our inner thoughts, then we are doomed.

I do not know how the creators of this production managed to fit so much into 90 minutes. Even those with no knowledge of Orwell’s novel would comprehend and consider the messages in this play... Go see it. It’s a must.

1984 is at The Playhouse Theatre, London
Running until 23^rd August.

Valentine's in Glitterland, Secret Theatre Show 4

It was Valentine's Day, I'd already had several glasses of wine and I was with my friend whose boyfriend had kindly lent her to me for the night. We'd picked the day of lovers purposefully to forget the flowers and forced fashions and instead to see Secret Theatre: Show 4; the fourth and final in the series that had been taking place at the Lyric over the renovation period. Show 3 had been disarming but epic, therefore I was expecting a lot. 

As you go to the Secret Theatre Series knowing basically nothing, it is hard not to be confused when it starts; there's no theatrical blurb or programme just a cast list with "Based on John Webster's, The White Devil". Perhaps other viewers might know their Jacobean tragedies, but this meant little to us (Googled during the interview). The play had been modernised and sharpened by Hayley Squires in its modern manifestation, Glitterland.

"How the fuck are we supposed to rule them if they know the truth."

To be honest, the first half was not easy to grasp, though we though afterwards, perhaps this was purposeful. What became clear from the start though was that there was some sort of dystopian power-struggle going on with nuances of incest and sexual subterfuge. Set in a future-land, a future court or political ruling class, the themes, staging, language and feel of the play was somewhere between Pulp Fiction, Sin City and Brecht's Ui. Beauty, celebrity and power are valued above all, indeed half the ruling class are part of the "entertainment" sector.

Certainly there was a sinister air from the start as the leading female, Marilyn Monroe-esque, Victoria sang her old-Hollywood musical numbers and was lusted after by the married prince of the land. Still confused a little, we were thrust into Godfather-territory as all the men had a meeting about something or other; all with names such as Franco, Lupo, Ciano and Nemo and someone was banished. We also accepted that there was part of what was occurring that may have been imagined by one or more characters, but we weren't completely sure of which part it was. Perhaps the sexy red headed woman that only appeared in the presence of one character, Nemo - the play's Iago - and seemed otherworldly.

"What is wrong with not looking beautiful"

By the interval, I was soft-headed, partly due to wine, partly due trying to scrunching my brow in concentration... The acting was fabulous, that was obvious. Especially Katherine Pearce's, Victoria and Leo Bill's, Nemo and having seen these actors before in Show 3, this really showed off their versatility. I was also pleased to find my date as muddled as me about where it was going..

The second half was certainly more elucidated and drew things together so we could enjoy the power of the acting, though after the interview it felt a little predictable. More people are killed, public speeches are given, people sing, drugs are taken and the women fade into the background even more..

Still Leo Bill's performance "glitters" as Nemo; playing the character so well, that the audience shirk back as he draws near.

"We'll be running the Glitterland together, like we always dreamed"

What did I take from this piece...power, money and celebrity are bad, sure. A ruthless leader isn't great, but a quiet fixer and right-hand man to the leader is often more dangerous (I believe Shakespeare taught me that). It was an interesting depiction with insightful acting In a "performed piece ": reality was not courted by the staging or the characterisation of the lead roles, it was satirical and cartoonish and yet those studied characters were so well done that it was certainly not Brechtian, we were not ready to get up and judge. That alone is enough for me to recommend it to others. I liked Hayley Squires' script, I think that she could produce something that really pushed boundaries in the future. Leo Bill will be famous as a great actor one day, I am sure of it. Many of the rest of the cast were extremely good too, there was just some little thing that failed to make it glitter, or leave me winded as Show 3 had done.

After this me and my Val-date staggered to the pub and quickly moved onto more liquor and cigarettes and jocular discussion on the affairs of our friends and enemies, unfettered by the storms raging around us. With Show 3, we had been numb for an hour afterwards barely speaking except to discuss the play. And that, my friends.. silencing the cynical, fickle Londoner... is a sign of something truly wonderful...

Secret Theatre: Show 4

Showing at the Lyric, Hammersmith until the 22nd March

To Book:  lyric.co.uk

Images (c) Lyric, Hammersmith