1984 | |
---|---|
Written by | George Orwell (novel) Robert Icke, Duncan Macmillan (play) |
Date premiered | 13 September 2013 |
Place premiered | Nottingham Playhouse |
1984 is a 2013 play by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan based on the 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell.
The production premiered at the Nottingham Playhouse on Friday 13 September 2013 in a co-production with Headlong. It was created and directed by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan, designed by Chloe Lamford, lighting was designed by Natasha Chivers, sound by Tom Gibbons, and video by Tim Reid. Rudi Dharmalingam played Charrington. [1]
Following a UK tour, the production transferred to the Almeida Theatre in Islington from 8 February to 29 March 2014 where it later transferred into London's West End to the Playhouse Theatre from 28 April to 23 August 2014 where it was co-produced by the Almeida Theatre and Sonia Friedman Productions. The production was nominated for Best New Play at the 2014 Laurence Olivier Awards but lost to Chimerica , another Almeida Theatre production. [2] This was followed by another UK tour.
In 2015 the production returned to the Playhouse Theatre in the West End from 12 June to 5 September. Following the 2015 West End run, the production toured to Nottingham and Bath before travelling to Melbourne in Australia and Santa Monica, Boston, and Washington, D.C. in the United States.
In 2016 the production returned for a third time to the Playhouse Theatre in the West End from 14 June to 29 October.
In 2017, Icke and Macmillan released a US edition of the play, and directed a new American cast for the play's opening on Broadway. The Broadway production opened at the Hudson Theatre on June 22 (previews beginning May 18) for a limited run until October 8, starring Tom Sturridge, Olivia Wilde and Reed Birney.
Due to audience reactions to the shocking content, security guards were placed within the Hudson Theatre.
Before opening night of the show, those under the age of 13 were barred from attending, after actors had spotted a small child in the audience. [3]
In 2017, a version of the production played on an Australian tour, playing in Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, and Perth, from 13 May through to 13 August. [4] [5] [6]
The play includes extreme torture scenes. It also includes non-linear staging, strobe lights, sudden blackouts and jackhammer sounds. [7] [8] Due to the shocking nature of the play, some audience members reacted in various ways, including leaving the show, fainting, screaming at cast members, and throwing up. Two audience members had police called on them after getting into a fight after the show. [3] Among these audience members, actress Jennifer Lawrence was in attendance at a show before leaving and throwing up. [9]
Character | Original Cast [10] 2013-14 | West End 2014 | West End 2015 | West End 2016 | Broadway 2017 | Australia 2017 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winston | Mark Arends | Sam Crane | Matthew Spencer | Andrew Gower | Tom Sturridge | Tom Conroy | |
O'Brien | Tim Dutton | Angus Wright | Hilton McRae | Reed Birney | Terence Crawford | ||
Charrington | Stephen Fewell | Richard Katz | Rudi Dharmalingam | Michael Potts | Yalin Ozucelik | ||
Martin | Christopher Patrick Nolan | Daniel Rabin | Carl Hendrick Louis | Renato Musolino | |||
Syme | Matthew Spencer | Ben Porter | Joshua Higgott | Nick Mills | Guy O'Grady | ||
Parsons | Gavin Spokes | Simon Coates | Anthony O'Donell | Wayne Duvall | Paul Blackwell | ||
Mrs Parsons | Mandi Symonds | Rosie Ede | Cara Seymour | Fiona Press | |||
Julia | Hara Yannas | Catrin Stewart | Olivia Wilde | Ursula Mills | |||
Original Production Awards
Year | Award Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | Tony Award | Best Sound Design of a Play | Tom Gibbons | Nominated |
Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Sound Design in a Play | Tom Gibbons | Nominated | |
Outstanding Lighting Design in a Play | Natasha Chivers | Nominated | ||
Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Projection Design (Play or Musical) | Tim Reid | Nominated |
The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325-seat producing house with an international reputation, which takes its name from the street on which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diverse range of drama. Successful plays are often transferred to West End theatres.
Nottingham Playhouse is a theatre in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. It was first established as a repertory theatre in 1948 when it operated from a former cinema in Goldsmith Street. Directors during this period included Val May and Frank Dunlop. The current building opened in 1963.
Matthew Warchus is an English theatre director, filmmaker and dramaturg. He has been the Artistic Director of London's The Old Vic since September 2015.
Stephen Fewell is a British actor who portrays Jason Kane in the audio adventures of Bernice Summerfield. He has also appeared in classical theatre, in various Doctor Who audio productions, an episode of the 2005 Channel 4 drama The Courtroom, Headlong Theatre's production of Paradise Lost at the Hackney Empire and in the musical play ENRON at the Royal Court and in the West End.
Michael Grandage CBE is a British theatre director and producer. He is currently Artistic Director of the Michael Grandage Company. From 2002 to 2012 he was Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse in London and from 2000 to 2005 he was Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres.
Paul Blackwell was an Australian actor, mainly known for his stage work. He played a major role was in Rolf De Heer's 1996 film The Quiet Room and other minor film roles, and was also co-creator and director on some stage productions.
George Orwell's 1949 dystopian political novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, has been adapted for the cinema, radio, television, theatre, opera and ballet.
Simon Coates is a British actor who has worked extensively with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company, with whom he has appeared internationally, working with directors such as Sir Richard Eyre, Robert Lepage, Howard Davies, William Gaskill, Sir David Hare, Declan Donnellan, Tim Supple, Sir Tom Stoppard, David Farr, Lindsay Posner, Sean Holmes, Katie Mitchell, Indhu Rubasingham, Phyllida Lloyd, Thea Sharrock, Dame Vanessa Redgrave, Sir Trevor Nunn, Robert Icke, Simon Godwin, James Dacre, Rupert Goold, Sir Gregory Doran, Blanche McIntyre and Sir Michael Boyd.
Rupert Goold is an English director who works primarily in theatre. He is the artistic director of the Almeida Theatre, and was the artistic director of Headlong Theatre Company (2005–2013). Since 2010, Goold has been an associate director at the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2017 for services to drama.
Lia Williams is an English actress and director, on stage, in film and television. She has had television roles in The Crown, in May 33rd (2004) for which she was nominated for a BAFTA, and in The Missing (2016), Kiri (2016), His Dark Materials (2019–2022) and The Capture (2019–2021).
Paul Arditti is a British sound designer, working mainly in the UK and the US. He specialises in designing sound systems and sound scores for theatre. He has won awards for his work on both musicals and plays, including a Tony Award, an Olivier Award, a Drama Desk Award and a BroadwayWorld.com Fans' Choice Award for Billy Elliot the Musical.
Jamie Lloyd is a British director, best known for his work with his eponymous theatre company. He is known for his modern minimalism and expressionist directorial style. He is a proponent of affordable theatre for young and diverse audiences, and has been praised as "redefining West End theatre". The Daily Telegraph critic Dominic Cavendish wrote of Lloyd, "Few directors have Lloyd’s ability to transport us to the upper echelons of theatrical pleasure."
Denise Gough is an Irish actress. She has received a number of accolades, including two Laurence Olivier Awards as well as a nominations for a Tony Award and a British Academy Television Award.
Terence Crawford is an Australian actor, author, theatre director, academic, and songwriter.
Playground Entertainment is a television, film and theatre production company with offices in New York and London, founded in 2012 by Sir Colin Callender, former President of HBO Films.
Ursula Mills is an Australian actress.
Robert Icke is an English writer and theatre director. He has been referred to as the "great hope of British theatre."
Duncan Macmillan is an English playwright and director. He is most noted for his plays Lungs, People, Places and Things, Every Brilliant Thing, and the stage adaptation of the George Orwell novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, which he co-adapted and co-directed with Robert Icke.
Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures is the live show, stageplay and musical production arm of Warner Bros. Discovery. The company forms a part of Warner Bros., one of the major business segments of Warner Bros. Discovery. Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures is led by Mark Kaufman.
The Doctor is a 2019 play by Robert Icke. It is a reimagining of the 1912 play Professor Bernhardi by Arthur Schnitzler.