1984, Lyceum, Edinburgh**** – challenging watch and powerful recreation of Orwell’s novel
Chris Hannan promised to give audiences an “electrifying experience in the theatre” as he set about bringing George Orwell’s classic 1984 to the stage.
He more than delivers in this production at the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh where Big Brother, Room 101, Thinkspeak and all the horrors they spawned, are delivered in the starkest ways imaginable.
Decades have passed since I last read Orwell’s book, but its imagery and messaging still burn bright. This show only urges you to pick up the novel once again and read it from the start – and learn from, or at least, consider, its warnings.
This co-production with Dundee Rep, Edinburgh’s Lyceum and Glasgow’s Citizen, and directed by Dominic Hill, is a challenging watch at times, and it is the second half where it becomes unflinching, as it captures the power of a novel which has influenced generations.
It also roots much of the story in Scotland where the author arrives to begun a lengthy convalescence at Hairmyres Hospital in Glasgow after being wiped out with tuberculosis - a condition that would ultimate claim his life just months after the book’s publication.
Jack Tarlton plays the role of both the author, and Winston Smith, whose job it is to rewrite history in the Ministry of Truth.
In hospital, he verbally jousts with his consultant specialist Mr. Dick (Robert Jack) - who fought on the opposing side during the Spanish Civil War - and never quite gets the better of an old-school stickler for the rules Nurse Rankine (Irene Allan).
It is his relationship with Julia (Jessica Hardwick), a member of the Anti-sex League, which is key to this story as they try to find a way through surviving joining the Brotherhood without betraying those closest to them - an impossible challenge.
They are helped by Inner Party member O’Brien (Irene MacDougall), but Big Brother is watching - and listening - and they are all small cogs in a much larger machine designed to grind out all thought and individuality.
There is a lot to digest as we enter the world of Big Brother, and it is in the second half that the full horrors of the system come crashing into view. Short, sharp scenes heralded by screeching alarms and blackouts takes us closer and closer to Room 101 where spirits are broken and all secrets surrendered.
Tarlton handles the physically demanding role incredibly well as Big Brother exploits Smith’s own worst fears, and the setting and sound all capture the darkness and omnipresence of a totalitarian state.
At a time when words matter more than ever, but are used as a weapons to wound and attack, 1984 holds up a mirror to a society we live in where people and groups are demonised, where truth and opinion are given equal weight, and speaking out is more challenging, and, at times dangerous, than ever.
This powerful stage play is a reminder of how dark things can truly get.
> 1984 is at the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh, until Saturday, November 7.
Performance times and ticket details HERE