Theatre Review: 1984 at the York Theatre Royal

Hi folks,

Last week, the Headlong Theatre Company were in York to perform their stage adaptation of George Orwell's dystopian classic, 1984. 

The play has been touring the country for over a year now and has received a string of five-star reviews. 

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)