UK Theatre Network

George Orwell’s dystopian post-war novel Nineteen Eighty-Four imagines life in the future as a mixture of Stalinist Russia, Brave New World and The Blitz, with a splash Cold War paranoia thrown in for good measure. 

Our hero Winston Smith, a supposedly loyal drone in the Ministry of Truth, secretly dreams of smashing the despotic Party organisation which runs the state.  But the political and personal merge when Winston risks an illegal love affair with his colleague Julia despite the constant threat of discovery by ubiquitous two-way telescreens, a network of infant spies, and the terrifying Thought Police.

Matthew Dunster’s adaptation remains strictly faithful to the novel even down to the Brief Encounter-style dialogue, and has a traverse feel with a catwalk bisecting the auditorium.  This is a fast-paced production where scenes and characters come thick and fast, furniture and props literally fly in and out, and the cast members take a large number of roles between them.

Paul Wills’ design allows for effortless and rapid scene changes, and when the stage splits to reveal the high-tech torture chamber in the Ministry of Love the effect is truly impressive. 

Jonathan McGuinness as Winston (bearing a striking resemblance to Orwell himself) exudes bemusement and vulnerability as he goes on his perilous journey of self-discovery and rebellion, while Caroline Bartleet’s Julia has a confidence that comes from knowing exactly how to play the system purely to achieve her own ends and not from any underlying principals.

However the highlight of the evening is not some state-of-the-art special effect but an old-fashioned piece of theatrical rhetoric.  Paul Moriarty delivers an extract from banned book The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism, which I can assure you is as boring as it sounds, and invests it with such clarity and emotion that dry prose becomes inspiring oratory.  The spontaneous round of applause which Mr Moriarty earned on press night was well-deserved.

The grim and restrictive life of Oceania in 1984 may not appear an exact parallel with Britain in 2010, but since the Iraq conflict has resulted in democratic nations using detention without trial and state-sanctioned torture, and our own government has been caught trying to re-write the history of why the war ever happened, Orwell’s nightmare vision now seems more prescient than ever.

1984 is on until Saturday 27 March 2010

Prices: £8.50-£29.50

Evenings: Mon-Fri @ 7.30, Sat @ 8pm

Matinees: Wednesday @ 2.30, Saturday @ 4pm and Tuesday 9 March @ 2.30pm

Box Office: 0161 833 9833

www.royalexchange.co.uk