UK Theatre Network

I’ll take care of you.

 

Betty and Phil, an elderly couple, are cut off from the outside world. For months they’ve survived in their barricaded home, with Phil scavenging for food and other goods outside and Betty rationing within. After Betty had recovered from a grave illness she found herself in a changed world where gangs ruled the streets and everything lay in ruins – an Orwellian vision right out of “1984”. Betty is still not well and completely depends on Phil to take care of her. She misses seeing people and faces but Phil insists that going out would be much too dangerous. He is adamant and evokes the “Dunkirk spirit and all that.” One day things will get better and Betty will be able to venture outside again. Betty seems resigned to her fate until an intruder enters their safe haven.  

Benjamin Bate’s intriguing production subverts the genre of survivalist fiction and provides a sharp commentary on our contemporary culture of fear and the generational conflict. Michael Grinter gives an intense performance as the seasoned hunter-scavenger Phil who will do anything to care for and protect his wife and Maggie Turner is touching as the seemingly frail Betty.

Tristan Bates Theatre, Covent Garden

Tickets: £8 /£10

5th - 23rd October (No Sundays)
7:30pm

Tickets: £8 /£10

020 7240 6283 / boxoffice@tristanbatestheatre.co.uk

www.trifleproductions.com

 

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

Orwell - A Celebration is coming to Trafalgar Studios for a limited run from 8th June.







A theatrical celebration of George Orwell, marking the 60th and 70th anniversaries of 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' and 'Coming Up For Air'. 'Coming up for Air' displays Orwell’s great gift for comic writing and grasp of middle-class fears at a time of economic and political crisis. The evening also features excerpts from Nineteen Eighty-Four alongside other Orwell works 'Killing an Elephant' and 'A Hanging'.

SeatChoice is proud to be helping to support this production.