Aurora Theatre Company Continues Season With 1984

Aurora Theatre Company continues its 32nd season with the Bay Area premiere of Michael Gene Sullivan’s internationally acclaimed adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984. With translations in six languages, Sullivan’s adaptation of 1984 has been performed in Ukraine, China, Spain, Italy, Scotland, and across the United States, and now returns home to the Bay Area with this new production at Aurora. Tony Award-nominated Barbara Damashek (The Children, Creditors, A Number) directs David Bryant, Daniel Duque-Estrada, Warren David Keith (Widower’s Houses, The First Grade, The Devil’s Disciple), Brady Morales-Woolery (Born With Teeth), Joseph Patrick O’Malley (Colonialism Is Terrible, But Pho Is Delicious; Creditors; A Number), and Megan Soledad in this provocative retelling of the prescient novel which resonates more powerfully than ever, asking whether love and freedom can stand up to a fascistic assault on language and thought itself. 

1984 will be presented in-person on Aurora’s mainstage from November 10-December 10 (Opening Night: November 16). 

Aurora will also offer a week of streaming 1984 performances for audiences to enjoy in their  homes. Streaming performances will run concurrently with in-person performances from December 5-10. 

Aurora Artistic Director Josh Costello says: “Michael Gene Sullivan's adaptation of 1984 is one of the smartest plays based on a book I've ever read. The way he chooses to tell the story is fresh and original, while also being quite true to the novel -- which is as relevant right now as it has ever been. The rise of ubiquitous surveillance, our collective relinquishing of privacy to tech companies, and rising authoritarianism around the world all connect to Orwell's vision of a dystopian future.”

Adds playwright Michael Gene Sullivan: “The most obvious difference, though, between our world and that Orwell created is that in his the state is paramount, but in the United States of today the state is more clearly a puppet of Wall Street. Orwell touches on capitalism, false socialism, and Fascism, but his focus was on totalitarianism. We may not have the burned out buildings and bombed cities, but we are teetering on the brink of an Orwellian nightmare, with all the violent oppression, propaganda, and misery - but with lots of cheap luxuries to distract us!”

SYNOPSIS: Adapted from George Orwell by the Bay Area's own Michael Gene Sullivan, 1984 is a ferocious and provocative retelling of the prescient and iconic novel. Big Brother's surveillance state seeks to control not just our bodies but our minds as well, reaching into every corner of our lives. Accused of Thoughtcrime, Winston Smith faces an interrogation that will reveal his struggle for scraps of love and freedom in a world awash with paranoia and violence. Can the yearning for freedom be extinguished? Or is our shared humanity more powerful than any forces of repression? Experience the novel come to life with shocking relevance in this brilliant adaptation on the Aurora stage.

Post show discussions for 1984 will be led by Aurora staff or members of the Creative Team, and hosted after the show on the following days: Friday, November 17; Tuesday, November 21; Wednesday, November 29; Thursday, December 7. Aurora INsights, an in-depth conversation about themes of the play offered to Aurora donors of any level, will be held at 4pm on Saturday, December 2. 

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