With ‘1984’ on Broadway, Thoughtcrime Hits the Big Time

I saw 1984 early in previews. Yikes! This show may have a shorter run on Broadway than American Psycho. The first half is tedious, boring, slow- moving, stilted and fractured. The second half is figuratively and literally in your face shock drama that aims to blow your senses and your mind. There is no intermission so both halves are starkly juxtaposed with one another. The performances were all underwhelming (on purpose, though) except for the actor (i.e., Reed Birney) who plays a mind control therapist/torture expert. I wondered why in the second half there was a large patch of cellophane taped to the stage floor and then I found out why - the torture scene near the end entails lots of gore and dripping blood. There were special effects but mostly of the cheap kind - blackouts, flashing lights, smoke, loud sounds, etc. Don't get me wrong - the main ideas centering around mind and body control by the State are as powerful and relevant as ever and this play gives you an all too realistic look at what goes on in a police state/totalitarian country (just read the newspapers) that is a total horror show for those trapped and enslaved in it. The producers might get lucky if young people tag this one as a cult favorite. I'd pass though and suggest you just re-read Orwell's classic novel.

1984 could be better related to collage campuses than the Trump administration. Media, the majority of voters and many other stand up to authority to the "state" can this be said on a collage campus like Evergreen?

If you're planning to see this play my advice is - read the book instead. I thought this production was overwrought and unnecessarily gimmicky. In a review of a production at the Playhouse Theater in the West End in 2014, Ben Brantley, the chief theater critic of The New York Times, described it as “willfully assaultive.” Perfect description.

It takes a while to really get going, but once it does it is truly outstanding. Kudos to the brilliant sound design, which might be, in fact the true star of this production. And the use of the video screen, while reminiscent of an avant garde theater group I saw a few years back at The Public Theater (and whose name I can't recall at the moment), is clever and inspired. One of the best productions I've seen on Broadway in quite some time.

I was stunned by how bad 1984 was when I saw it a few days ago in previews. Messy script. Mediocre acting by the lead. Odd directing choices. Maybe the worse production of a straight play I've seen on Broadway.

Why not in ticket sales? No on Broadway.com and There are no tickets for Broadway.com and even on this site - https://broadwayshows-nyc.com/

Orwell knew well of what he was writing. He as part of the British colonial police force in Myanmar, then known as Burma, before he wrote his novels. I believe the force was actually called the Imperial Police Force. The British system to some extent laid the groundwork for much of Myanmar's dictatorial legacy even down to this day.

Orwell's "backstory" reminds me of Joseph Conrad whose Heart of Darkness is more nonfiction than fiction in its depiction of Belgium's oppression of the people in Central Africa.

In any case, Orwell knew oppression as well as the terms and language of oppression first hand. For five years, he enforced the system invented by the British.

The London production was strong, but be warned: heavy use of strobe lighting can definitely upset some spectators.

It might be worth an "ask" for Trump and Conway and Spicer as to why 1984 is popular again under their influence on things.

In an age marked by mass surveillance and body cameras, anonymous sources, the speech police, microaggressions, public shaming, hashtag activism and faceless agencies that just say, "take our word for it," I don't see how anyone can make the Orwellian case against Trump.

Perhaps everyone should read the book again. Anytime you think Orwell was on your side, he isn't.

Wonderful must-read article, but hey - can anyone check if the show could use a peppy theme song? (P.S. to Ms. Schuessler: Excellent Tony live blog the other night!)

Scarily Modern Orwell
Tune of Thoroughly Modern Millie

There are some who will come
To the show, feeling numb
The tourist crowd may not sympathize.
What I once had cheered as weird and hypothetical
Now make me swear it’s scarily prophetical
So we’re noting –

Everything George wrote is scarily modern
Stomachs acting queasily
Everything he wrote is happening now
Tickets will sell easily

When folks have mocked a bit, we’re shocked a bit more
What we’re now saying is “we’ve passed Nineteen Eighty Four”

Have you seen the things that go out on twitter
Coming from the President
Tweets we wish Ivanka wouldn’t allow
Wish he’d be more hesitant

So let’s line up tonight
They’re ready and how!
The curtain’s going up
On scarily modern Orwell now.

"1984" is the most prophetic book I've ever read. Unfortunately.

I saw the show last weekend. It was stunning, intense, and brutal. Four days later, I am still replaying the experience. I've seen torture scenes in movies, but nothing was as challenging as viewing it from the fifth row while being powerless to stop it. "Imagine a boot stomping on a human face forever." It's a great production with amazing actors, but take the warning about graphic torture seriously.

George Orwell's commentary on power and its corruption on society in both 1984 and Animal Farm is timeless. Anyone who has a vested interest in the continued success of liberal democracy must consider that, above all, protecting a liberal democracy is more important than partisan politics. The kind of evil that Orwell describes could come from any political spectrum in any country. Protection of checks and balances, of institutions and an active civic society is paramount and can not solely be colored by topical views.

I read the book decades ago and saw the film with Richard Burton and John Hurt (which I thought was very well made). The book and the movie still frighten me.