Written By: George Orwell Adapted By: Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan

1984
Written by: George Orwell

Adapted by: Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan
Paper by: Scott Burrows
1984 is the story of Winston Smith, a worker in a totalitarian society ruled by a

mysterious figure head with no face called Big Brother. Every aspect of Winston is constantly
monitored by The Party, the leadership of this country of Oceania. And it isnt solely Winston
being monitored, every member of the party is under constant control of The Party. Every form
of media is controlled by the party and Winston begins to keep a journal. He talks about his
hatred of the party and Big Brother. However, Winston constantly suffers from breaks with
reality. He sees a girl many times, and thinks she is a member of the Thought Police searching to
take him out. But she hands him a note saying I Love You and she finds a place that they can
meet, there they kiss and she shows that she feels that this is a form of rebellion against The
Party even though no one knows. They then decide to attempt to join the Brotherhood, a force of
rebellion against the Party and Winston meets with a member of the Inner Party, OBrien, who
reveals that he is secretly a member of the Brotherhood and gives Winston a book of the ideas of
the founder of the Brotherhood, which Winston reads and takes to heart. To get this book
Winston promises he will do anything to achieve his goal, literally anything. But right as
Winston feels secure he is found by the party and taken prisoner by the party who hold him and
eventually is tied to a chair in a big white room where he is tied to a chair. Winston is then forced
to submit to the party and destroy everything he thought made him better than the party; his
moral superiority, his belief in what a fact is, his belief in the Brotherhood and a life outside of
The Party. In the end Winston is forced to betray Julia, and loses everything he as, becoming
what The Party wants him to be. He is dead and he submits to Big Brother and says Thank
you.
This production of 1984 is about the question of what is reality? Winston consistently
sees repetition of things happen and never gets to see something as a firm fact. He and all of the
characters in the show are completely unreliable as telling the story. It brings you to think about
if what is happening even happened or if it is just another piece of propaganda for the party for
people to believe, in order to make them think theyre free. We are brought into Winstons mind
and told contradictory things, we see people constantly watching him and this adds to our own
paranoia about the world. Is constantly unable to believe the things that he sees even going so
far as to see the audience itself, we are told in Winstons interrogation that he is unable to
distinguish reality, from memory and his imagination. This serves as the productions main focal
point, we are never sure if something is happening now, its being imagined or if it as all
happening after the fact. Another part of the story is Winstons journal which is shown to us as an
integral part of the story. It shows that we are seeing this story as it is the past, and there is a lot
of discussion over whether the past exists as fact or if it in our heads, and this furthers the idea of
the Party altering people without them knowing it.
If I was to play a character, I would want to be Winston. He has a certain spirit in him, a
sense of determination and fight that makes me like him. I like how he gets broken down at the
end though the most he is forced to destroy all of the thoughts he holds dear and in truth he finds
he can only blame himself, (which is what the party wants). He has such solid beliefs that make
it all the more tragic when he is eventually forced to give them up. He is constantly lost in this
world and refuses the last thing that claims to have facts. I think I could really connect with his
loss of tangibility in the world and make that life of desire to rebel mine.
The technical aspects of this how were astounding loud noises and bright light constantly
flashing in your face put you right in Winstons head as he has no grasp on when he will
suddenly be jolted into the next thought. As an audience member, you are constantly on edge
preparing for the next attack on your senses, as Winston is constantly waiting for some kind of
attack. The set which seems like a run off the mill office is torn away to reveal the blank white
canvas in which there is no place for Winston to hide, everything gets torn away leaving what he
knew as reality only a memory, if it even existed at all. One of the coolest aspects of the show,
though, was its use of live and prerecorded footage through security cameras in order to show us
things we wouldnt normally see in a play; such as a secret room which Winston goes to in order
to be free from the monitors that is off stage and has a bunch of cameras showing Winston and
Julia being alone and is then used to show how theyve been discovered with Winston finding the
cameras, and seeing the audience and the thought police attacking him.
1984 was amazing. It is easily the most thought provoking show Ive ever seen, it was so
imaginative and abstract and down right mind boggling to see! The entire ride home my parents
and I discussed the ideas of the show because the show forces you to think about things such as
reality and control, and ask questions about yourself and the world around you. It is also just
enjoyable, the characters were super believable and you enjoyed all of them, there is not a dead
moment. You are constantly on edge and I need to see it again.

Written By: George Orwell Adapted By: Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Written By: George Orwell Adapted By: Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Written By: George Orwell Adapted By: Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

What is the setting and premise of the story?

What is Winston's relationship with Julia like?

1984

Written by: George Orwell

Paper by: Scott Burrows

1984 is the story of Winston Smith, a worker in a totalitarian society ruled by a

You might also like

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.