Robbins' Helmed '1984' Opens in LA June 18

The Actors' Gang's critically acclaimed production of George Orwell's 1984 returns to Los Angeles as part of an extensive national and international tour that has traveled to cities across the U.S. and to Hong Kong, Melbourne and Athens.  Academy Award-winning actor-writer-director Tim Robbins, co-founder and artistic director of The Gang, directs Michael Gene Sullivan's stage adaptation at the Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater (REDCAT) for a limited two-week engagement June 18-29.  One low-priced preview is set for June 17.

1984 tells of a world where people fear that their opinions cannot be expressed freely, where citizens are monitored at the government's discretion, where leaders are not held accountable for their deceptions and where perpetual war is waged against an unseen enemy: a world where Ignorance is Strength, Freedom is Slavery, and War is Peace. This is the world Orwell created more than half a century ago, and its prescience of today's world is startling.

"When I read Michael's adaptation, I thought he was making this stuff up," said Robbins.  "When I went back and reread the book, I was stunned.  I think we're left with the impression, if we haven't read it in, say, 20 years, about Big Brother watching you - a gray world where the government can see into every apartment.  What you don't remember are the specifics: what Doublethink is, what [the book's arch nemesis] Emanuel Goldstein's theories are about why war is necessary, and how the ruling class uses the fear of war to propagate its hold on power.  It's all so relevant today."

When 1984 premiered at The Actors' Gang in 2006, the Los Angeles Times called the production "first rate," and the LA Weekly said, "GO... a swift and effective retelling. Under Tim Robbins' direction the action never slows."  The Los Angeles Daily News wrote, "This is not your father's George Orwell... As is the case with the majority of productions that come out of the Gang, this means difficult, topical and insightful material that sacrifices none of its theatricality to make a point."

The Actors' Gang, now in its 25th season of rule-breaking, thought-provoking, engaging theater, is one of Los Angeles' most enduring ensembles.  Since its founding in 1982, The Gang has consistently won acclaim for its daring interpretations of Shakespeare, Buchner, Brecht, Moliere, Aeschylus, Ibsen and Chekhov, while also developing daring new plays that address today's world through a prism of satire, popular culture, and raucous stagecraft.  "Of the theater companies in Los Angeles that doggedly dare to dissect current political conflicts, The Actors' Gang, headed by Oscar-winning actor Tim Robbins, is the most prominent," wrote The Daily Breeze.

Tim Robbins received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2003 for his role in Mystic River. A few of his other film credits include: The Shawshank Redemption, The Player, Bull Durham, Bob Roberts, The Hudsucker Proxy, Short Cuts and Five Corners.  He wrote, directed and produced the award-winining films Dead Man Walking and Cradle Will Rock.  As a playwright, he has written seven plays including, most recently, Embedded, which played engagements at The Actors' Gang in Los Angeles, The Public Theater in New York, The Riverside Studios in London, and toured nationally throughout the United States.

Michael Gene Sullivan (adaptation) is resident playwright for the Tony Award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe. His directing credits include shows at SFMT, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Mystic Bison Theatre and others.

Performances of 1984 take place June 17 through 29: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 8:30 pm; Saturdays at 3:00 pm & 8:30pm; and Sundays at 3:00 pm.  REDCAT is located at 631 West 2nd Street; Los Angeles, 90012, at the corner of W. 2nd Street and S. Hope Street, inside the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex.  Tickets are $36.00 general admission and $28.00 for students on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and $38.00 general admission and $32.00 for students on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Admission to the preview performance on June 17 is $24.00.  For more information and to purchase tickets, call (213) 237-2800 or go to www.redcat.org.

Please note:  This powerful new adaptation contains brief, partial nudity and strong language. 

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