Review: 1984 is Inventive and Immediate at Shakespeare Theatre Company

"War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength." Most of us are familiar with the slogans of the bleak, dystopian society George Orwell constructed in his novel 1984. The inventive production of 1984 at Shakespeare Theatre Company takes these phrases and makes them more relevant than ever to a contemporary Washington, DC, audience.

This adaptation of the novel was originally produced by Headlong, a renowned UK touring company. Created and directed by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan, it incorporates multimedia elements while staying loyal to the text. According to Macmillan, their aim was to "take along a 15-year-old who has never read the book while satisfying the scholar who has read this book 100 times." They have achieved this end through the story's themes; however, someone who has read the book at least once will probably come away with a greater appreciation of the main plot points.

Matthew Spencer, a wonderfully believable everyman, plays Winston Smith, a.k.a. Comrade 6079. Winston is haunted by memories of the past and believes he might be going mad. He rebels against the totalitarian Inner Party by starting a diary and thinking original thoughts - thoughtcrime, punishable by death. Big Brother is watching, and thought police are everywhere. Further disobeying the law, Winston falls in love and begins an affair with Julia (the vital Hara Yannas), an apparent model citizen with a secretly rebellious personality. Inner Party member O'Brien (a chilling Tim Dutton) works for the Ministry of Truth, but his allegiance may lie elsewhere.

The play is structured as somewhat of a frame story, beginning with a group of people discussing an important book - Winston's diary? Orwell's 1984? This is disjointed and baffling at first, but once the love story between Winston and Julia begins, the action picks up and the constant state of panic feels justified. The paranoid atmosphere is upheld by the actors and fueled by intense lighting (Natasha Chivers) and sound design (Tom Gibbons). Signs posted outside the theater warning of bright lights and loud sounds are warranted for this production, which uses these effects to trigger a feeling of whiplash that is appropriate to the storyline.

The most effective part of the set (Chloe Lamford) is the giant screen above the stage, which displays mandatory messages from the Party and some of the action taking place on (and off) stage as it is captured live by various cameras. Fans of the novel who doubt that the exhilaration of rebellion or the horrors of Room 101 could be done justice onstage might be surprised. The costume design, also by Lamford, takes cues from the text and is classic enough to prevent the story from being trapped in a specific decade.

The timeless design choices, along with the innovative use of technology, ensure 1984 is of the moment. It is almost impossible not to think of current events while certain lines, such as one about people being so focused on their screens they wouldn't notice what was going on in the world, invite chuckles. The portrayal of a security state calls to mind Edward Snowden and the NSA, phone encryption, and pervasive social media use. Broader topics explored include individual identity, xenophobia, and extremism, all of interest in the current political climate. We now have the fearsome technology that Orwell could only imagine in the 1940s, as well as an impending change in presidential leadership, making this production a timely one.

Running time: approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes without an intermission.

1984 plays through April 10, 2016, at Shakespeare Theatre Company's Landsburgh Theatre, 450 Seventh Street NW, Washington, DC 20004. Tickets can be purchased on shakespearetheatre.org or by calling 202-547-1122.

Photo: cast of 1984; photo by Ben Gibb, courtesy of Headlong.

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