1984 – Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh
I first read 1984 in a philosophy class at high school. Back then I remember thinking how dystopian it was, one of those books that the teacher chose to make you think about how easily things could go terribly wrong, but in a way that still felt removed from reality.
This new adaptation by Chris Hannan, directed by Dominic Hill, makes an interesting choice by bringing Orwell himself into the story. The play opens with the writer in a tuberculosis hospital in Scotland, where conversations with his doctor offer a glimpse into the political experiences that helped shape the novel. Jack Tarlton plays both Orwell and Winston Smith, moving between the real man and the fictional character whose world is slowly falling apart.
I found this framing particularly interesting because it gives the...
