By Jessica Kennedy.
The Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts presented 1984 as part of its Live Edition Program this past Friday, October 4th. This exciting new initiative by the theater involves partnering with local schools to offer field trip opportunities for students to see performances of stories they have read and studied in their classrooms. Over 700 students attended the show- as well as a Q & A session with the actors afterwards- prior to the public performance on Friday evening. This version of the Orwell classic was adapted for the stage by Michael Gene Sullivan, directed by Desiree Sanchez, and performed by the Aquila Theatre company as part of their national tour.
Orwell’s dystopian classic- arguably his magnum opus- was written in 1949 and has since seen a resurgence in popularity, being cited as a Best Seller on Amazon in 2017. This thought-provoking novel tells the story of Winston Smith, a lonely and cynical man who refuses to pledge allegiance to Big Brother and his paradoxical mantra of “War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.” Although all seems hopeless and dismal in a world where 2+2=5 and “only proles and animals are free,” Winston seeks out anyone who would be like-minded, and risks everything to be a part of the resistance against such tyrannical forces. While the year 1984 came and went without the world lauding Orwell as a modern day Nostradamus, many fans today have found his sci-fi references to telescreens and the Thought Police even more timely and relevant than they were all those years ago.
The Aquila Theatre puts on a truly fantastic show. The minimal set and ominous lighting designed by Desiree Sanchez and Stevie Mackie provide the ideal backdrop for a story which begins in Part Three of the novel, the Ministry of Love or- “the place where there is no darkness.” Add to that the clever use of a projector, designed by Lianne Arnold, to showcase all of Big Brother’s production reports, and you have set the scene for torture (of poor Winston, of course- not the audience). The actors in this nationally touring troupe performed like a well-oiled machine. Their pacing was perfect, and their delivery of the most notable lines from the novel was truly masterful. I cringed each time they “shocked” Winston, and Reece Richardson twitched and spasmed as the electricity caused his muscles to contract involuntarily. I got chills as I watched each Party member play out his or her role in mindless obedience- both eerily in lock step with one another, yet also somehow making each character unique and memorable. And the disembodied voice! Joanna Bending’s cruel and confident tonality and Lucas Cardwell’s Sound Design not only drove the story forward, but also made Sullivan’s inversion of the story as told in flashbacks after Winston’s arrest all the more engrossing and haunting.
Seeing the Aquila Theatre perform was truly a treat- 1984 is one of my favorite novels, and their performance of Orwell’s cautionary tale did justice to the text, while also delivering a truly riveting theater experience.
Check out the Patchogue Theatre at http://www.patchoguetheatre.org/