Review: 1984, Sydney Theatre Company

28 June, Roslyn Packer Theatre

A touring production of the Alemeida company's critically acclaimed version did little to nothing for me. I'm going to be in the minority here but I found this in turn uninteresting and frustrating.

There was famously a run on hard copies of 1984 in the USA following last year's election results, and I thought this production came along at a timely moment. But the things which make Orwell's 1984 more relevant than ever - ideas about doublethink, and propaganda, and the numbed and indifferent masses - are the parts which are given the shortest shrift in this play.

I found the first half boring, and the choices quite boring - ah so we're surveilling Winston and Julia, just like Big Brother, gosh maybe we ARE Big Brother. Cool cool cool but I didn't come to the theatre to watch screens. I think the decision to show the surveillance from the start, rather than reveal it as in the book, also takes away the tension and the surprise of that plot point.

The acting and staging just felt super flat overall, and the second half of the play is basically just torture? Very effective use of lights and sound to disturb and disrupt, kudos to the production team. But the whole thing is so clumsily done. Like being struck with a blunt instrument.

I find the book itself to be flat in affect, more about the ideas than the narrative. If you are going to translate that to theatre then you need to, I dunno, discuss and present those ideas in an interesting way maybe? Or bring some affect? This production is about creating effect, but without lasting impact. At least that's how it felt to me.

 

Links:
Kevin Jackson
The Guardian
SMH - how intense is it really?

 

Sydney Theatre Company in association with State Theatre Company South Australia and by arrangement with GWB Entertainment and Ambassador Theatre Group presents the Headlong, Nottingham Playhouse and Almeida Theatre production

1984
By George Orwell
A new adaptation created by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan

Directors Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan
Associate Director (Australia) Corey McMahon
Designer Chloe Lamford
Lighting Designer Natasha Chivers
Sound Designer Tom Gibbons
Video Designer Tim Reid

With
Molly Barwick, Paul Blackwell, Tom Conroy, Terence Crawford, Coco Jack Gillies, Ursula Mills, Renato Musolino, Guy O’Grady, Yalin Ozucelik, Fiona Press

Review: Hidden Sydney - The Glittering Mile, Vivid Festival

10 June, World Bar

Originally staged for Art & About, this cabaret show made its return for the 2017 Vivid Festival. This has such a great concept - a walk-through cabaret show, taking us to various spaces within the bar, in each one seeing a skit or a song about a different aspect of life in Kings Cross.

I found the concept more interesting than the execution, but it was very interesting and ambitious, especially considering its low budget. Like, don't go in expecting Sleep No More, it's a lot smaller and more structured than that. Good tho. The history of Sydney is just fascinating.

The most successful sections for me were the skit with the Les Girls drag queen and a homeless man; the monologue of the drug-dealing bartender (who served real shots to an audience member!); The Nevada skit from a brothel madam, giving a pep talk to the girls before the evening's work; and the monologue of Bea Miles, a homeless woman who recited Shakespeare and once took a cab all the way to Perth.

 

Link:
Hidden Sydney

 

Cast
NADIM ACCARI
JEREMY BRENNAN
RICHARD CILLI
GARY CLEMENTSON
PAUL DOWSON
GRANT GALEA
CALEB JAGO-WARD
BRENDEN LOVETT
MORGAN MAGUIRE
DAVID OUCH
DASH KRUCK
CHRISTA HUGHES

Original concept by Olivia Ansell in collaboration with Wendy Richards. ​
Executive Producers: Olivia Ansell and Wendy Richards
Director: Lucas Jervies
Writers: Trevor Ashley, Ray Badran, Nikki Britton, Benito Di Fonzo
Composer: Ben Fink
Designer: Hugh O’Connor
Lighting Design: Matt Marshall
Sound Design: Jed Silver
Research: Anna Messarati, Olivia Ansell and Wendy Richards
Publicity: Bruce Pollack Consulting
Venue Partner: The World Bar