1984: ‘taking Orwell’s book by the scruff of the neck for an electrifying theatre experience’

George Orwell’s 1984 has been essential reading for generations, so much so it led to the term “Orwellian” entering our language.

It is a powerful, harrowing and often disturbing vision of a totalitarian world of mass surveillance, and control over our beliefs. Its world of alternative facts seems frighteningly accurate in a era of fake news and social media misinformation.

Now it has returned to the stage in a new adaptation which challenges just how much we know Orwell’s literary classic.

Chris Hannan, who adapted the play which runs at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, until November 7, said: “Everyone read the book in their teens – so they remember it – but they don’t necessarily remember it very well. They have big expectations, but those expectations are probably very vague.

“That was the challenge for me and also for the director and actors. We had to take Orwell’s masterpiece by the scruff of the neck and give the audience a compelling story, and an electrifying experience in the theatre.”

Three of Scotland’s leading theatres - Dundee Rep, Edinburgh’s Lyceum and Glasgow’s Citizen - have collaborated for this new production which takes a fresh perspective on Orwell’s vision.

“I created a frame story in which we see Orwell arrive at a hospital where he is being treated for TB. This is where he wrote his second draft of Nineteen Eighty-Four,” said Chris.

“I wanted to show some of the context for the novel – Orwell’s physical fragility, his first-hand knowledge of chronic pain, and his encounter with totalitarianism when he was almost liquidated by Soviet communists during the Spanish Civil War. One of his doctors in the TB hospital fought on the Fascist side during the Spanish Civil War and they begin a conversation - that’s what I want the play to do - open a conversation about the novel’s relevance to politics today.”

He is in no doubt the story is more relevant than ever.

"Without a doubt. It’s about a world of “alternative facts”. Ring any bells?” he said.

“The novel was born out of Orwell’s experience In the Spanish Civil War, where Orwell fought for the left-wing democratic army against the Fascists.

“He found himself in a post-truth world where there was no such thing as objective facts, where right-wing newspapers and left-wing newspapers lied like three-year-olds about the progress of the war. In the ideological war both sides thought they had a monopoly on the truth… and that’s what Nineteen Eighty-Four is really about - a party and a totalitarian system which believes it has a monopoly of the truth.

“Why is that relevant today? Think of the religious ferocity of our polarised ideological arguments. CNN and Fox News; the Green Party’s “Zionism is racism” motion; the sex and gender debate.”

Re-reading the novel, Hannan admitted he was surprised how contemporary the character of Julia - Winston’s love interest - was. “She feels like a woman who has gone through the feminist revolution – upfront, in charge, clear.” That is brought to stage more so than in the original book, adding a strong personal perspective to a grim and often brutal story.

“To be honest, I dislike watching torture scenes in any medium. I often find them gratuitous. Dominic Hill, the director, wanted much more torture than I initially wrote,” said Chris.

“But I think he was right. An important question in the novel is - how much of our humanity can withstand extreme physical pain? In this production the torture is part of the experience – and the suspense. Will Winston break or not?”

He hopes audiences leave with much to ponder.

“Orwell is writing about a totalitarian society – but he’s telling us something about democracy – the essentials of democracy. At a moment when democracies are stressed perhaps to breaking point, we really need to pay attention to those essentials.”

> 1984 at the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh, until November 7. Ticket info HERE