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1984 at The Dukes - Review
IT was never going to be easy to translate the cult dystopian novel 1984 into a stage performance, and do it justice.
It certainly wasn’t the easiest thing to watch either; in fact, parts of it left me shifting uncomfortably in my seat.
Having read the original by George Orwell some years ago, and still carrying the weight of the message within, I was excited to see how The Dukes and Northern Broadsides, in association with Stroud Theatre Company, would deal with its oh-so familiar content.
Nick Lane’s stage adaptation is loud and abrasive from the start. Flickering TV screens endlessly instructing, ever watching.
Grim and sketchy animations bring a futuristic yet faulty edge to the experience, and the narration is appropriately over the top.
With a mind split between conformity and individuality, lead character Winston Smith, played by Nick Haverson, decants his nausea and confusion into the audience.
As his hope diminishes, so does ours, and Big Brother has done his job.
I should probably add that Haverson does an excellent job of being electrocuted, but surely he should have been a little more cautious?
Smith’s love interest Julia, played by Kate Ambler, flits from hot to callously cold, an impossible dream for Winston, and ultimately his downfall.
I didn’t “enjoy” this play, although the performances were fantastic, the stage design fresh and exciting, the scene changes seamless and the conversion true to the original.
I was frustrated by it, angered, alarmed and – like Winston’s realisation that The Book written by former Party leader turned enemy of the state Emmanuel Goldstein, is telling “the truth” – troubled by its similarities with ‘real life’.
The Dukes deserve enormous credit for staging this production.
It runs Tuesday to Saturday until October 9 in the Rake, £7.50 – £17.
NICK LAKIN
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