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1984
War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.
Winston Smith rewrites history for the Ministry of Truth, but when he's handed a note that says simply 'I love you' by a woman he hardly knows, he decides to risk everything in as earch for the real truth. In a world where cheap entertainment keeps the proles ignorant but content, where a war without end is always fought and the government is always watching, can Winston possibly hold onto what he feels inside? Or will he renounce everything, accept the Party's reality and learn to love Big Brother?
Winston Smith rewrites history for the Ministry of Truth, but when he's handed a note that says simply 'I love you' by a woman he hardly knows, he decides to risk everything in as earch for the real truth. In a world where cheap entertainment keeps the proles ignorant but content, where a war without end is always fought and the government is always watching, can Winston possibly hold onto what he feels inside? Or will he renounce everything, accept the Party's reality and learn to love Big Brother?
120 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1949
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 18, 2021
OK. Two questions here. One: has this play actually ever been performed? Two: did the cost of the tickets cover the audience's class-action for psychological distress?
Nineteen Eighty-Four is a story that I will always continue to reread. Mostly because I'm always under the false impression that I'm a braver person than I was the last time I read it. It turns out I'm actually more easily disturbed the older I get. Go figure.
When I found out that this story was adapted for the stage, I immediately thought it was impossible. After reading it, I still stand by my hypothesis. There are so many instances in this script that I'm having such a hard time picturing on stage. And I don't even mean the scene with the pliers. Or the lavatory. I mean the dream sequences and Winston's daydreaming. The stage directions (and there were a lot of them) tried to explain how these scenes would work, but I still felt like audience members that weren't familiar with the source material wouldn't understand what was going on in front of them. The way the set pieces were to be moved was kind of interesting. I suppose I would have to see it to conclude whether it really works.
I'm just trying to imagine audience members unfamiliar with the source material walking into the theatre and seeing… all of this. I've seen some disturbing visuals on stage, but this was in its own class. Even knowing what to expect, the play was somehow so much more disturbing than reading the novel. And the only images I was subjected to were those my mind could illustrate. You could not pay me to see this performed in front of my eyes.
There is something that the medium of theatre lends itself really well to in this case. Moralistic stories, especially when using hyperbolic instances such as this one, are really complemented by the use of pauses and awkward silences. Something not possible when writing a novel. Obviously this isn’t just a personal opinion, because the stage directions clearly take advantage of this tool.
But I don't want to be a total downer. Oceania isn't all bad. You can wear a onesie everyday and no one will judge you.
That's my kind of freedom.
Nineteen Eighty-Four is a story that I will always continue to reread. Mostly because I'm always under the false impression that I'm a braver person than I was the last time I read it. It turns out I'm actually more easily disturbed the older I get. Go figure.
When I found out that this story was adapted for the stage, I immediately thought it was impossible. After reading it, I still stand by my hypothesis. There are so many instances in this script that I'm having such a hard time picturing on stage. And I don't even mean the scene with the pliers. Or the lavatory. I mean the dream sequences and Winston's daydreaming. The stage directions (and there were a lot of them) tried to explain how these scenes would work, but I still felt like audience members that weren't familiar with the source material wouldn't understand what was going on in front of them. The way the set pieces were to be moved was kind of interesting. I suppose I would have to see it to conclude whether it really works.
I'm just trying to imagine audience members unfamiliar with the source material walking into the theatre and seeing… all of this. I've seen some disturbing visuals on stage, but this was in its own class. Even knowing what to expect, the play was somehow so much more disturbing than reading the novel. And the only images I was subjected to were those my mind could illustrate. You could not pay me to see this performed in front of my eyes.
There is something that the medium of theatre lends itself really well to in this case. Moralistic stories, especially when using hyperbolic instances such as this one, are really complemented by the use of pauses and awkward silences. Something not possible when writing a novel. Obviously this isn’t just a personal opinion, because the stage directions clearly take advantage of this tool.
But I don't want to be a total downer. Oceania isn't all bad. You can wear a onesie everyday and no one will judge you.
That's my kind of freedom.
March 24, 2024
He loved Big Brother.
I don't think there is a more devastating final line in all of literature or a better book, if I'm honest. Nineteenth Eighty-four is one of those books I'm glad I came to as an adult. It would have meant little to me had I been forced to read it at school as a lot of my contemporaries were. It's a brutal book that puts you off ballance from the opening line, and Dunsters play manages to do the same. Never quite reaching the hights of the book this play, though, is damn good and manages to pull off the gut punch ending with aplomb.
I don't think there is a more devastating final line in all of literature or a better book, if I'm honest. Nineteenth Eighty-four is one of those books I'm glad I came to as an adult. It would have meant little to me had I been forced to read it at school as a lot of my contemporaries were. It's a brutal book that puts you off ballance from the opening line, and Dunsters play manages to do the same. Never quite reaching the hights of the book this play, though, is damn good and manages to pull off the gut punch ending with aplomb.
January 5, 2026
I think it is a very good play, and is a important message about letting dictators have power, otherwise we might live in a world like 1984, although I found it very dark and depressing for my liking.
November 8, 2017
An incredibly gripping play! So glad this is one of my final year shows!
January 22, 2019
Not a huge fan. Too government based for me. Liked some of the ideas though, such as newspeak. But otherwise, not for me.
May 10, 2024
Ich weiß ehrlich gesagt nicht, wie ich das Buch bewerten soll, da ich es eigentlich nicht schlecht fand, meine Erwartungen jedoch weit untertroffen wurden. Ich hatte einen erzählenden Roman erwartet, stattdessen liest es sich mehr wie ein Essay über eine dystopische Welt, die erschreckende Parallelen zu der unseren aufweist. Obwohl die Geschichten Längen hat und Winston Smith als Protagonist bis zum Schluss blass bleibt, würde ich dennoch jedem empfehlen, sie zu lesen. Kein Lieblingsbuch, aber eine umso wichtigere Lektüre.
August 14, 2016
Em va agradar però a estones se'm va fer pesat. Amb un resum de les normes ja hauria passat, no en necessito una còpia literal.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews