1984 Play Review – Yr 10 Extension English

On Wednesday 21 October, the Year 10 Extension English class, accompanied by Ms. Langley and Ms. Lee, attended a play adaption of George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 at the Melbourne Arts Centre.

The production was completely different from the how we imagined the world of 1984 while reading the novel. The play began as a discussion inside Winston’s head to establish the context and to make it relevant to a contemporary audience. This interpretation helped the audience to understand the novel’s totalitarian society and clarified the ‘Newspeak’ language used throughout the play.

The use of the stage space was impressive because there were only two major set changes and the projection of Julia and Winston’s affair onto a large, overhead screen gave the impression of the characters being spied on. This highlighted the loss of privacy and the exploitation of technology as a form of surveillance that Orwell was preoccupied with. The lighting and sound effects intensified the atmosphere and the constantly flashing bright lights left some of us with sore eyes! The most gruesomely exciting climax of the play was Winston’s torture scene in room 101, but to our disappointment there were no live rats.

The production was an interesting adaption of Orwell’s novel; it had a refreshing feel to it and was a wonderful experience.

Written by Aimee Tran & Bethany Seitz.

Aimee Tran

Bethany Seitz