April, 1984. 13:00. Comrade 6079, Winston Smith, thinks a thought, starts a diary, and falls in love. But Big Brother is watching him – and the door to Room 101 can swing open in the blink of an eye.
Headlong bring George Orwell’s dystopian vision of the future to life, as 1984 comes to the Liverpool Playhouse. This provocative new staging is created by director Robert Icke and writer Duncan Macmillan, and comes to Liverpool from Tuesday 29th October to Saturday 2nd November.
With its chilling depiction of perpetual war, pervasive government monitoring and incessant public mind control, George Orwell’s 1984 is as relevant today as it ever was. This reimagining filters it through the lens of contemporary culture, where Big Brother and Room 101 are ideas that prevail, and the notion of surveillance – online data tracking, Prism, and C.C.T.V. cameras – is all too much a part of our everyday reality.
This stage version of 1984 is created, adapted and directed by Bruntwood-prize winning writer Duncan Macmillan and Headlong Associate Director Robert Icke, who was previously at the Liverpool Playhouse in 2012 with Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist.
Playing the role of Winston Smith will be Mark Arends, last seen at the Liverpool Everyman in Artistic Director Gemma Bodinetz’s production of Macbeth (2011), following appearances there in The May Queen (2009) and Urban Legend (2008). As well as acting (Cat in the Hat, National Theatre; The Glass Menagerie, Royal Exchange), Mark wrote, directed and composed the music for the award-winning Something Very Far Away (Unicorn).
Joining Mark Arends in the cast are Tim Dutton, whose extensive stage and screen credits include The Bourne Identity and Ally McBeal; Headlong regular Stephen Fewell (Henry V Part I and II, Bristol Old Vic); Christopher Martin Nolan (War Horse, National Theatre), Matthew Spencer (Sleuth, Watermill), Gavin Spokes (Utopia, Channel 4), and Hara Yannas (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare’s Globe). Completing the ensemble cast is Mandi Symonds, last seen at the Liverpool Playhouse in 2012’s A Streetcar Named Desire.
In the spirit of this production of 1984, Headlong have worked alongside King’s College London and web developers M/A to create a unique digital experience for audiences. Using a mobile app, the project explores the relationship between Orwell’s vision and the use of digital technology in contemporary society, confronting participants with their own Digital Double. Audiences can discover their own virtual doppelganger by visiting www.digital-double.com.
Tickets for 1984 are priced at £10-£23. Tickets are available from the Playhouse Box office, Online at www.everymanplayhouse.com or by telephone on 0151 7094776.