The world can feel like an increasingly dystopian place. Press outlets and politicians insist that what you thought you heard them say yesterday is in fact the opposite of what they said. Billions of people receive their news via a screen which is always primed to listen to what they say. People are ever-more polarised, entrenched in separate camps and unable to listen or compromise. Executions and warfare are packaged as inhumane entertainment. It is perhaps no surprise that this autumn Dundee Rep, the Citizens Theatre and the Royal Lyceum have chosen to stage an adaptation of George Orwell’s prophetic 1984.
The parallels between the book and the modern world are clear enough, and Chris Hannan’s adaptation is confident enough to not feel the need to over-emphasise them. A neat framing device sees Orwell himself bookend the story, his time convalescing from tuberculosis in a Glasgow hospital while writing the novel used to provide some valuable and enlightening context. Orwell had fought in the Spanish Civil War on the republican side, and his experiences both of fighting against fascism and the factionalism of the leftwing republicans informed 1984.
The framing device’s hospital provides inspiration for Tom Piper’s striking design, with its beds, trolleys and 1940s radios all repurposed in Oceania – the totalitarian superstate led by Big Brother in which protagonist Winston Smith (Jack Tarlton) lives. Winston’s dreary life plays out surrounded by boiler-suited Party members and in constant fear of the terrifying Thought Police, dressed to resemble ICE agents.
However, when he meets and falls in love with fellow would-be insurrectionist Julia (Jessica Hardwick), their trysts take place in deliberately obvious stage sets, with all the nuts and bolts showing. The implication that their every move is being watched and manipulated is clear and clever, highlighted by the ominous barred gallery that surrounds the stage.
It is no surprise in the second half when the bars of the set slide down to create the prison cells where Winston is tortured. A transparent screen is also interposed between the audience and the action, enhancing the sense that this torture is being broadcast on screen for our entertainment. These scenes are undeniably and effectively shocking and upsetting, although never gratuitous. Mark Melville’s disorientating sound design adds to the sense of horror.
Tarlton is superb as Winston, a role that must be physically and emotionally draining. He is sickly and frail, but throughout the production defiance increasingly radiates from him, until he is finally broken by his suffering and he becomes an automaton. Tarlton’s stooped Winston is in stark contrast to Hardwick’s vivacious and frank Julia. She embodies a reckless need to live, although a sense of inevitable despair underpins her broad smiles.
The cast as a whole is excellent, from Irene Macdougall’s horrifyingly dispassionate torturer O’Brien to Peter Colins’ bombastic Party man Parsons. The staging of the two-minute hate is a remarkable and genuinely uncomfortable watch, as all eight actors seem to lose themselves in an orgy of rage and disgust, forcing the audience to confront the idea that people might love hate more than love itself.
This adaptation of 1984 leaves one in no doubt as to its message, one it drives home with brutal and brilliant clarity. Of course people will debate and disagree, but it is imperative that they use these disagreements as an opportunity to converse and compromise respectfully rather than impose their will blindly. Otherwise we risk sacrificing democracy to authoritarianism, and while democracy is undoubtedly fallible, it is also fragile, and far, far better than the alternative.
Performed at The Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh
Tuesday-Saturday 19:30, Wednesdays and Saturdays 14:30
Running time: 2 hours 50 minutes including interval
Adapted by Chris Hannan from the novel by George Orwell
Directed by Dominic Hill
Designer: Tom Piper
Lighting Designer: Lizzie Powell
Composer: Nikola Kodjabashia
Sound Designer: Mark Melville
Video Designer: Heather Scott
Cast: Irene Allan, Neshla Caplan, Peter Collins, Jessica Hardwick, Robert Jack, Irene Macdougall, Zrey Sholapurkar, Jack Tarlton