The Sixth Form production of George Orwell’s 1984 was a pure, visceral and essential piece of theatre. This was a main House play directed with an astute and vital urgency by Ed Hodgson (Sc) and Lily-Rose Tebbutt (W). They squeezed every ounce of tension from Matthew Dunster’s taut adaptation, whilst always maintaining a clear focus on the political and moral questions that permeate every moment of the play.
Declan Boyle (L) shone as the central Winston, imbuing the character with just the right balance of wide-eyed idealism, and gnawing fear. Lily Hunter’s (W) Julia was run through with revolutionary energy, whilst never losing the character’s necessary fearless charm.
Then there was Henry Worsley (Ldr) as the calm, calculated and undeniably alluring O’Brien. Part monster and part pragmatist – this was a character you didn’t want to be near but couldn’t look away from.
Special mention to the technological complexity of the production – mixing real-time theatrical wizardry with live and recorded multimedia. The audience were left breathless.
S Aylin
