Review: 1984 at Southwest Shakespeare Company

Guest contributor Lee Cooley offers his take on Southwest Shakespeare Company’s production of 1984, on stage at the Mesa Arts Center.

If you haven’t read or don’t remember reading George Orwell’s 1984, you must see Nick Hern’s stage adaptation at the Mesa Arts Center before the show…or democracy…is over.

Southwest Shakespeare Company’s Artistic Director Keath Hall heralds the company’s mission to elevate, entertain, educate, and inspire by kicking off the 2025-2026 Season with a classic production that includes five student matinees.

“One of the reasons I chose it is because (the book is) no longer standardized in curriculum,” said Hall. “I wanted to bring it to students, so that they could understand what's happening when people say, ‘That's so Orwellian.’” Which is not the only lesson.

The battle between Smith (Marshall Glass) and O’Brien (Tahni Delong) remind us that, "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past."

1984 may have been written 77 years ago but politically, the title was 41 years too soon.

Today, those who rewrite history hold absolute power. As Orwell put it, "We do not merely destroy our enemies, we change them" and not for the better. O'Brien’s mission is to deconstruct and reconstruct those who seek the real truth, especially the holdout Smith.

During an after-show talkback, Delong shared that developing her role as the brutal O’Brien “intimidated me like crazy…how am I going to find this woman that’s so sadistic and intense? It really pushed me out of my comfort zone.” Audiences feel their own discomfort.

The scenes between Smith and O’Brien build with so much intensity that by the end of the second act, the fine line between the Ministries of Truth and Love has frayed. It’s no longer enough to identify non-loyalists, O’Brien must break them too – but is it by order or desire?

Director Maren Maclean Mascarelli and assistant director Dorothy Valley have assembled a remarkable cast; Glass, Delong, Johnny Kalita (Walter, more), Kate Haas (Julia, more), Serena Poggi (Ashley, more) and the very versatile Phillip Beaupre (Martin, more).

A flashback before reenactments of Winston's affair might have made his girlfriend's reveal clearer (cursed by doubling perhaps), but presumably Hern didn't write it that way.

Tiana Torrilhon-Wood’s dramatic scenic design features Party propaganda posters (War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery and Ignorance is Strength) and in true Orwellian fashion, Big Brother (Scott Sims) watches from on high thanks to sound/media designer Jacob Nichols. 

Is it possible for the watchful eye to be a scene stealer? A little less repetition or a little more variety in the film clips would have been nice. But these multiple impressions were likely intended to show how our own history is being erased. Technology begats ideology.

Regardless, the cast and crew must have been proud of the audience’s warm reception. I’m sure you will enjoy it too but think the student matinees could use a disclaimer, perhaps: Nothing George Orwell published in 1949 is worse than anything in the news today.

1984 runs through October 26th at Mesa Arts Center.

Southwest Shakespeare Company -- https://www.swshakespeare.org/ -- Mesa Arts Center, 1 E. Main Street, Mesa, AZ -- 480-435-6868

Photo courtesy of Southwest Shakespeare Company

Disclaimer: Lee Cooley will be directing MOBY DICK for Southwest Shakespeare Company in 2026.

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