Photo Flash: 1984 Audience Strikes a Pose for Big Brother

In celebration of the headline-grabbing Broadway stage adaptation of George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984, as well as the novel's resurgence at the top of the best-seller lists, Penguin Random House gifted copies of the classic novel to the entire sold-out audience at a recent (9PM) performance. Directly following the show's curtain call, audience members participated in a one-time-only photo-taken from the stage- at Broadway's newly restored Hudson Theatre.

Photographer Nathan Johnson commented, "By capturing 1,000 people obscuring their faces with copies of 1984, we wanted to create an image that was both prescient and haunting. I think the shot speaks for itself."

Berkley, a division of Penguin Random House, reports that 1984 sales in the first half of 2017 are up almost 200% over the same period last year. The publisher printed half-a-million copies of the book in January alone-more than the 400,000 copies sold in a typical year. As reported by news outlets around the world, sales of George Orwell's 1984 jumped in January following Kellyanne Conway's use of the phrase "alternative facts" during an interview. The publisher saw another spike in sales in April when media coverage for the Broadway play began to surface. One of the most widely referenced and best known fiction titles of all time, Orwell's 1984 has sold over 30 million copies worldwide and has been translated into more than 65 languages.

Now, Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan have adapted the novel into a chilling theatrical event as we watch the iconic characters of Winston, Julia and O'Brien-played respectively by the extraordinary trio of Tony® Award nominee Tom Sturridge, Olivia Wilde in her Broadway debut, and Tony® Award winner Reed Birney-negotiate a world that believes, as the novel boldly exclaims: War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.

Photo Credit: Nathan Johnson

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