Hi folks,
Last week, the Headlong Theatre Company were in York to perform their stage adaptation of George Orwell's dystopian classic, 1984.
Here, Y13 English Literature student Laura gives her take on it.
It is very difficult to go into a lot of detail with this
version of the play as I think everyone who sees it would have come away with
something different. What I found the most interesting about it was at the
beginning and the end, it had people reading Winston's diary in the future and
talking about the relevance of it, what they thought of it, how the Party had
eventually fallen but no-one actually knew how - this opening scene was later
reflected at the very end when it was said Winston Smith was never real, it is
thought the diary could have been written by someone who did not wish the Party
to know it was them. The most chilling part was when a character said "But
what if the Party never fell? Surely, this could be their way of telling us
that they are still here. Always watching" The play closed very shortly
after that line.
The use of including future generations reading the book
1984 was incredibly clever as well as giving the audience the impression that
the story never actually happened. How it was acted out was that Winston had
perhaps never met Julia, he had always been a puppet of the Party. They'd let
him imagine that all of his life had happened to him when in reality, they had
always controlled him, giving a rather interesting point of view on it.
Repetition was also used during the play. For example,
Winston would say something but not understand it, it would later come back
round as to why he said that (basically the idea that he was in Room 101 the
entire time). A scene in the canteen would play out, with characters doing the
same thing every day at the same moment (As a side note, during this scene, I
have never seen a man dry a teacup with such malice on his face), showing the
monotonous life those in the book lead. It only changes when Syme is
'unpersoned' that Winston starts notice how similar every single day is.
The use of lighting and set was very good, even if I was
blinded by the strobe light that was basically next to my head half the time!
Lighting was used to create a mood, was switched on and off at the most
dramatic times, increasing tension or diffusing it. The set was simple but
incredibly effective. For example, Winston and Julia's room above Charrington's
shop was hidden from the audience view behind the main set, it was played to
the audience via a webcam - I at first thought it was a clip that they just
played until the set revealed itself behind the main one when Julia and Winston
were captured. This, I thought, was particularly clever as it showed even when
they thought they were alone, someone was always watching.
All I really have left to say is a huge well done to the
cast, particularly Matthew Spencer (Winston) and Tim Dutton (O'Brien) who both
played their roles amazingly. The torture scenes were certainly not easy to
watch so I imagine they were not easy to act out either, Spencer brought a very
accurate portrayal of Winston (I may even say better than John Hurt in the
movie version which is not easy for me to say as I adore John Hurt). Dutton as
O'Brien was as terrifying as he should be, sinister and weirdly charming.
But to be honest, all of the cast were brilliant in their
respective roles.
I only had one or two disappointments with this production
which was there was no use of the famous first line with the clock striking thirteen, I felt that should have been a must!
Another is that (even though loose ends were tied up) the beginning is rather
confusing even to those who have read the book, it was difficult to understand
why there were suddenly smartphones in 1984!! Obviously though, these are very
minor things and it is more me just being picky.
All in all, I would give this a definite 9/10 and highly
recommend you go see it while you can!
Laura (Y13)
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