1984 at Theatre 68

“April 4, 1984,

DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER

DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER

DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER”

Winston Smith, an IngSoc Outer Party member who works at the Ministry of Truth rewriting the past, repeatedly prints these words in a small diary he found in an old proletarian junk shop. Never mind the words; the action of buying the diary, of opening it and beginning to compose, are acts punishable by death. Such is life in Big Brother’s Oceania; one cannot speak or think their own thoughts for fear of the thought police and the mystery behind the door of Room 101. Yet Winston is obsessed with the REAL past and yearns to unlock its truths. When Julia, a fellow Outer Party member, enters his life, he finally sees a way to reach the unreachable, to live beyond Big Brother. 

George Orwell’s masterpiece, from which this play is adapted, is the foundation for most dystopian future imaginings. From music to visual art, to television and cinema, Orwell’s vision of the future, of “a boot stamping on a human face – forever,” continues to manifest, displaying the horrors of its harsh parallels to the modern world. Perhaps this is why 1984 is often considered one of the most banned books of all time; despite being published in 1949, Winston’s journey hits a nerve in the parties that want to suppress its message, as well as those who defend and advance its cautionary significance.