1984, Headlong, Playhouse Theatre, Melbourne Festival, Thursday October 22nd 2015
"1984" was presented by Headlong at the Playhouse Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne for the Melbourne Festival Thursday October 22nd 2015. This production was adapted from George Orwell's satirical novel and also directed by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan.For those new to my blog I write about the holistic experience of attending the theatre. So if you want a re-telling of the story please refer to the links for further information or for further insights. Note, that I may provide different links for repeated main words or phrases.
The arts are subjective and viewpoints can vary. I am interested to learn about other's viewpoints to understand different perspectives.
I enquired about obtaining a "1984" programme in the upstairs foyer from a helpful Programme Seller who suggested that I ask one of the door attendants. I asked an usher at Door One and took the opportunity to ask two gentlemen sitting near Door One if they too would like a programme to read before the show. The usher kindly obliged with two copies.
I am saddened that these programmes should have been given out prior to entry as they had a lot of information and a substantial Glossary of Terms. John Truscott would be turning in his grave that the standards of service at the Arts Centre Melbourne have deteriorated and you have to ask for a programme rather than being offered prior to entry. Note that the Playhouse Theatre is dark inside and it is very hard to read the programme!
In the foyer, an announcement was made at 7.32 pm and then repeated at about 7.45 pm: explaining that if you leave the theatre then you will not be let back in. Sadly, this over affected voice also enunciated items for patrons attention, with the exception of turning off phones and not taking photography etc. Inside the theatre, another announcement was made stating such, and sadly they missed a great opportunity to warn patrons "That Big Brother is watching you." This would have served two purposes to ensure audience members would not be disturbed by technology, and also create an atmosphere of surveillance that this production would deliver.
The woman sitting next to me behaved as if she was from the Thought Police, because within about 40 minutes from the beginning of the show, her constant sighing and clock watching occurred. I did not react to her rude and disruptive behaviour. I cannot understand why she did not leave rather than displaying her "Two Minutes Hate" with her body shifting and disturbing manner. The main consolation was that no mobile phones went off during this performance. At the end I applauded so loudly to her patronising "baby claps."
Set design by Chloe Lamford was brilliant. Though the carpet curling up in the first scene bothered me from a safety perspective. The opening set was stark and was used so effectively. As one panel fell down, it gave the illusion of the saying "if only these walls could talk." A large white area above the main set doubled as a screen allowing us the opportunity to spy upon Winston and Julia in the bedroom. Three cameras in the bedroom provided different angles emphasising the cramped conditions and the loss of privacy.
The Thought Police arrived and the opening set was opened up to reveal the location of the bedroom upstage. A sense of urgency and menace was created as the Thought Police de-constructed the opening set. The staging was slick, cold and calculating to create a dark and sinister scene of investigation with a black out and the requisite torches.
Lighting design by Natasha Chivers was brilliant to create the opening mundane environment to the harsh and blinding White Room 101. More importantly the transitions between many of the opening scenes required tight coordination with both the sound designer and the action on stage.
Vocally one actor was harder to hear than the others throughout. The acting was stylised and appropriate to the satire of "1984". Winston Smith played by Matthew Spencer took the audience on an emotional journey and allowed us to empathise with his situation. I particularly liked his restraint that built to sheer terror. Julia played by Janine Harouni with clinical coldness, until trust could be built with Winston. The ensemble of actors held me spellbound with their craft and their teamwork. The child actor was especially disturbing. (Apologies as I cannot name and credit which of the three children played at our performance: as no name was supplied.)
White Room 101 had Winston seated centre downstage with six helpers in their white boiler suits sitting like a Greek Chorus, three on each side during the interrogation. Three helpers selected their equipment and stepped forward to Winston. Blackout. Then the reveal of Winston and his fingertips cut off. This was made more gruesome by the director allowing the audience to see the before and after of action, using the unseen to heighten our imagination.
Winston then had electrical apparatus attached to his head and wrists. He went through the brainwashing of looking at four fingers until he named them as five fingers. This scene was even more sinister when Winston was subjected to the rats in the cage in full view in front of him. The rats' cage was then raised to head height to increase tension, climaxing with the rats' cage put onto his face. This build up made it even more horrific.
Sound design by Tom Gibbons was haunting and electric. I saw audience members jump at the synchronising of the white flashes of light with the stirring sound. We sat in P Row and watched bodies jump out of their their seats. This is theatre that moves you - physically and emotionally!!! Yes!!! Simple and effective to scare the shit out of you! His sounds pierced your body, not just your ears. Mind you, the sound was loud, but not excessively so, which made it even more disturbing.
Video design by Tim Reid was also brilliant as described above with the three camera angles creating intrusive and claustrophobic conditions. The upward close-up camera angle was particularly revealing for each character.
The Actors' Gang production of "1984" by Tim Robbins from 2006 should have played in The Playhouse and not the State Theatre were it was lost. That production was more clinical than this which gnawed at you throughout. I thought the Tim Robbins' version used the squealing rats more effectively and the rat cage was more sinister. Their grey uniforms were characteristically more impersonal than this production with its very 1950's drab and comfortable designs.
The Headlong production of "1984" made sense out of a difficult book.
The scenes which were repeated in the first section remind me of Jenny Kemp's play, "The Black Sequin Dress" with the Natasha Herbert tripping sequence. This is the third show in this 2015 festival to have this type of repetition and each has worked so well. Tripping is like a sub-theme of the 2015 Melbourne Festival. (I wrote about how I tripped upon entry to "YOUARENOWHERE"). Yes tripping without drugs and tripping physically!
The staging and movement of "1984" was stylised, robotic and calculated. The people were lifeless at times.
"1984" is a great companion piece to "YOUARENOWHERE" with the connections of memory, time and the nose bleed. The other connection was stating the obvious at the conclusion of each play with "This is the end."
The ending of "1984" reminded me of a scene from the movie version of Ray Bradbury's "Farenheit 451" where the characters are reciting their memorised book. Asking if the writer was real made it so sinister.
Winston sat during this final scene as if he was had not existed or had been unpersoned. This is so timely with our computer age as people's files are either misplaced, deleted or stolen. With identify fraud so prevalent in our modern times this scene was made even more relevant. It is so easy to just un-friend someone on Facebook with the same cold harshness of being deleted in "1984".
Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan and Headlong are to be congratulated on creating a wonderfully memorable piece of accessible theatre with "1984".
Brilliant theatre and I gave this a 9/10 and my partner 8.5/10. (Note my partner has not read the book)
No comments:
Post a Comment