Actor and director Tim Robbins has never really been one to shy away from things political, so it comes as little surprise that his stage production of George Orwell’s “1984” can not help but come across as a subtle but effective indictment of the actions (and inactions) of our current presidential administration. One wonders, though, if it’s actually Robbins’ directorial hand highlighting certain aspects of Orwell’s story, or (more likely), just a fortunate coincidence for him that some rather haunting similarities exist between the dystopian world Orwell wrote of in “1984” and the often frightening world we find ourselves in today.

Brent Hinkley

Copyright©2007 Jean-Louis Darville

Orwell wrote “1984” in the years just after the Second World War, and it subsequently has been the basis of numerous radio, film, and television adaptations. This new stage adaptation was written in 2004 by Michael Gene Sullivan of the San Francisco Mime Troupe (a company also well-known for its strong political views), and last year had a successful world premiere production by Robbins’ Los Angeles theatre company, the Actors’ Gang. Since then, this thought-provoking production directed by Robbins himself, has been touring venues both here in the States and abroad, and on Saturday it found its way to the Poway Center for the Performing Arts for a sold-out, one-night-only engagement.

Waiting for the performance to begin, the audience is put in the mood with recorded music by the likes of Radiohead and Rage Against the Machine. The shadowy lighting (designed by Bosco Flanagan) comes up on a stark, industrial set (by Richard Hoover and Sibyl Wickersheimer), a grim-looking interrogation room of black walls and a shallow, steel-floored pit. Manacled to the floor of the pit is the protagonist, Winston Smith (Brent Hinkley). Disheveled and looking defeated, it is clear that he has been tortured.

Therein lies this adaptation’s main problem, especially for those unacquainted with Orwell’s novel. The way Sullivan’s compact script is structured, those unfamiliar with the original book can spend most of the first act just trying to catch up. While starting the play roughly two-thirds of the way through Orwell’s novel is theatrically economical, one misses the chance to see the full arc of Winston’s journey through the postmodern wasteland of Big Brother-controlled Oceania.

For those who don’t know the story, Winston is in prison being interrogated about his crimes by a mostly unseen individual representing “Big Brother” (i.e., the State) and his four interrogators. These four also function as the players in the numerous flashbacks through which most of the story is told. Winston’s “crimes” in this futuristic society include, among other things, keeping a diary in which he lays out his hatred of his repressed, totalitarian government, and engaging in a sexual relationship with an adventurous young woman, Julia (Shana Sosin). Eventually, he is caught and imprisoned, and is subjected to horrific torturing (including a bizarre, comical sequence in which he is forced to listen to a deafening, endless stream of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”). His tormentors finally present him with a form of torture so disturbing (kudos to props coordinator Victoria Robinson) that he gives in, renouncing his independence and his love for Julia and effectively swearing allegiance to the regime of Big Brother.

Several themes introduced in Orwell’s story – most notably the governmental endorsement of fighting wars of questionable merit, and the use of almost constant governmental surveillance of private affairs to maintain national security – ring especially true today, without Sullivan or Robbins having to change much at all.

On the other hand, Sullivan chooses to change the setting from Britain to America, and with Winston’s interrogators attired in drab corporate suits (by costume designer Allison Leach), this “1984” becomes almost a cautionary tale of the dangers of rampant capitalism, just as much as Orwell’s “1984” was interpreted by many as anti-Socialist when it was written (although Orwell himself insisted that it was not against any particular form of government).

The six performers in Robbins’ production all give intelligent and insightful performances, displaying the virtuosity one has come to expect from the Actors’ Gang. As Winston, Hinkley carries the piece with the weary demeanor of a shell-shocked idealist, and Nathan Kornelis is frighteningly good as the sadistic Inner Party member O’Brien. Colin Golden, Andrew Wheeler, Justin Zsebe, and Ms. Sosin play the four other interrogating party members with surprising versatility, as they are often called upon to portray the various characters of Winston’s story in the flashback sequences.

Finally, designer David Robbins is to be commended for his eerie, industrial sound design, which provides a memorable backdrop throughout the entire evening as six actors take us on a frightening journey to Orwell’s futuristic “1984,” and to a world that is – strangely – a lot like our own.

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