Theatre review: 1984

“They’ll shoot me I don’t care down with Big Brother. Thoughtcrime does not entail death: thoughtcrime is death.”
--Winston Smith


1984 has been turned into a play a number of times, and at least once into a movie. I’m pretty sure this is the first production of it I’ve seen, although several years ago I reviewed Animal Farm as part of The Orwell Project. Godlight Theatre Company’s production of 1984 is best when it’s simplest. The chemistry between Winston and Julia in their love scenes and Winston’s brutal interrogation and subsequent betrayal are the core of this adaptation of Orwell’s famous novel. Unfortunately, the rest of the piece lags, bogged down by too many actors, scenes and sound effects.

I almost wish they’d skipped the first part of the story; 1984 seems so ubiquitous by now, it’s hard to imagine there are people who need the backstory. Winston Smith is Joe Average, an Everyman trapped in a soulless dystopian future. Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength run the slogans. Human emotion has been almost crushed out of existence, but Winston is determined to harbor some small shred of humanity. He begins an illicit love affair, starts a diary, tries to seek out like-minded citizens who also hate Big Brother. Unfortunately, his efforts come to a vicious and sudden stop; the authorities arrest him and, not satisfied with mere torture, are determined to completely reprogram his traitorous brain.

The production, while visually appealing, is almost too crowded for the tiny space at 59E59. The four women, who play the omnipresent Telescreens (used to spy on the populace), move around the playing square and station themselves at the four corners, thereby breaking the stage’s continuity. An actual screen would have more effective. There are short scenes to introduce various secondary characters, which break up the central Winston/Julia arc, and the lighting and sound effects—while innovative and completely in tune with the spirit of the play—often overpower the human element. An apt metaphor, I realize, but still distracting.

Again, the piece is best when it’s simplest. When the production is stripped of the extra people, the extra effects, and it’s just two people in a cramped space, attempting to connect on any human level—well, that’s the metaphor that counts. Gregory Konow as Winston and Enid Cortes as Julia have a simple and lovely chemistry onstage. Dustin Olsen as O’Brien is the other standout; his torture scene with Winston is far more effective, and powerful, than all the narrative and backstory leading up to it. In fact, the message of the novel and the play can be derived from that one scene alone. Torture scenes are obviously difficult, especially now, with all the talk of waterboarding in the news. But this particular torture scene is well-balanced; emotionally compelling without being graphic. The two men never even touch.

I realize cutting the backstory from a play that runs 85 minutes is a little extreme. But the directorial business became too distracting during the narrative scenes. Too many characters, too much of an effort to compress a lot of information into the smallest possible amount of time. But these are small quibbles for what is ultimately an accurate rendering of the novel’s spirit.

Based on the novel by George Orwell
Adapted by Alan Lyddiard
Directed by Joe Tantalo
With Gregory Konow (Winston Smith), Dustin Olson (O’Brien), Enid Cortes (Julia), Aaron Paternoster (Syme), Nick Pagliano (Parsons), Michael Tranzilli (Charrington), Michael Shimkin (Goldstein), and Deanna McGovern, Katherine Boynton, Sammy Tunis and Scarlett Thiele as the Telescreens
Original Music and Sound Design: Andrew Recinos
Production Design: Maruti Evans
Choreographer: Hachi Yu
Running Time: 85 minutes with no intermission
Godlight Theatre Company, 59E59, 59 East 59th Street; 212-279-4200
Tickets $25
Tuesday 7:30 pm, Wednesday through Friday at 8:30 pm, Saturday 2:30 and 8:30 pm, Sunday 3:30 pm
March 13 – April 19, 2009