1984 Opens at Venture Theatre, 3/11

1984 will play at the Venture Theatre in Billings from March 11 - 19, 2011. Based on the novel by George Orwell, the production is directed by Patrick Wilson.

"Based on George Orwell book 1984 imagines a world where people fear that their opinion cannot be expressed freely, where leaders are not held accountable for their deceptions, where perpetual war is waged against an unseen enemy; a world where Ignorance is Strength, Freedom is Slavery, and War is Peace. "I do not believe that the kind of society I describe necessarily will arrive, but I believe that something resembling it could arrive. The moral to be drawn from the dangerous nightmare situation is a simple one: Don't let it happen. It depends on you." -George Orwell."

"Patrick Wilson, director, has approached the play with energy and precision. He says George Orwell's 1984 challenges us to ask: 'Can humanity survive in an age of constant surveillance?' Many will be taken back to high school English class, where 1984 has been on reading lists for years. The play focuses mainly on the character Winston Smith (Taylor Roberts). Smith works for the party in the Ministry of Truth where his job is to alter documents so they always fall in line with what the party says is true. He falls in love with another party member, a crime that is forbidden by the Party and Big Brother. Winston?s growing rebellion against the regime and his furtive love affair with the mysterious Julia (Broquel Albertson) set his mind and heart to expose the party?s lies once and for all.

Wilson continues, With the United States mired in revelations of illegal domestic spying and
finding the edge of rights of privacy, the Venture Theatre production of Michael Gene Sullivan's adaptation of George Orwell's 1984-a nightmarish vision of a totalitarian society published in 1949-achieves exciting immediac."

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased on the theatre's official website. Venture Theatre is located at 2317 Montana Ave, Billings, MT and can be reached at (406) 591-9535.