By Mea Donnelly
If you didn’t get a chance to go to Krannert during October, you truly missed out. The play adaptation of the classic 1984 by George Orwell was truly an experience.
Unlike the book, the play took place in interrogation. It consisted of the book’s plot, mixed in with a creepy voice telling main character Winston that “Big Brother” loved him. Although the setup of this future dystopian society was confusing at first, a viewer who didn’t read the book could easily follow along after the story started. Past that, the acting was extremely good, as was the design of the set.
However, this play was very intense. Multiple times —at least ten— Winston was “electrocuted” on stage. For any child, this could easily be seen as disturbing and scary. Furthermore, Winston used the word “rape” a couple of times when talking about a girl who he originally hated. Mix that with an intense love scene, and it is very easy to see why 1984 was advertised for mature audiences.
The mature elements aside, the plot made this play very interesting for the viewer. In a dystopian society where war is simply a construction of power over the people, 1984 opened up a discussion on censorship. It discussed the extent that the government can really control what you think and asked to what extent do we have the right to privacy. These two very important issues are essential as the United States move forward.
Krannert’s interpretation of 1984 allowed viewers to apply the plot, originally written after World War II, to what is currently happening today. Overall, 1984 was very well done and definitely a play to see.
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*Image Sources:
http://krannertcenter.com/performance.aspx?id=20157211038454112817410782
The Spread 