Stage: Marking NVT’s 70th anniversary, and 1984
It is the 70th anniversary of the New Venture Theatre. Worth taking a beat and considering the enduring community and profesional spirit that has led the NVT to consistently put on interesting and ground-breaking shows, from Hedwig & The Angry Inch to Hedda Galber, offering opportunities to emerging new playwrights – in its groundbreaking Short Play Festival – and supporting new actors with roles (and classes) as they rise in their profession.
May sees a timely revisit to George Orwell’s dystopian classic 1984 – interesting considering the current storm around Facebook, Trump, and international relations in general.
In George Orwell’s 1984, people live under ignorant oppression in Oceania a country caught in a perpetual war. This is a place where the Party scrutinizes human actions with the ever-watchful eye of Big Brother. Defying a ban on individuality, Winston Smith a records clerk at the Department of the Ministry of Truth, his job is to rewrite historical documents according to the Party’s demands, dares to express his thoughts in a diary. His hatred of Big Brother, the Party and the Thought Police manifests itself when he decides to risk everything in a search for the real truth and pursue a heart-thumping clandestine relationship with the mysterious girl with the dark hair, Julia.
May sees a timely revisit to George Orwell’s dystopian classic 1984
These criminal deeds bring Winston to the attention of an Inner Party member named O’Brien who may be involved with an underground resistance group called the Brotherhood.
In Matthew Dunster’s arresting adaptation of this hugely-influential mid-twentieth century political novel we rediscover a seminal dystopian fantasy that indicates just how ubiquitous Orwell’s predictions have become, from the Lottery to CCTV cameras and the denuded lexicon of text-messaging (Newspeak under a different name). There is cold realization of how dangerous it is to be a citizen in a totalitarian state.
11 – 20 May, 7.45pm, Sun 13, 2.30pm (no evening show),
01273 808353, www.newventure.org.uk
www.brightonfringe.org
