Nineteen Eighty Four (1984) Playscript

Description

The definitive book of the 20th century is re-examined in this radical new staging by Headlong, the 'country's most exciting touring company' (Telegraph), who brought us Romeo & Juliet in 2012, directed by Robert Icke. April, 1984. 13:00. Comrade 6079, Winston Smith, thinks a thought, starts a diary, and falls in love. But Big Brother is watching him - and the door to Room 101 can swing open in the blink of an eye. This major new production explores the world inside Winston Smith's head, as well as the world without, and catches the euphoria and bliss buried deep underneath the cold face of Big Brother. In an age of mass surveillance, 'total' policing and GPS tracking, Nineteen Eighty-Four is as relevant now as it ever has been. A new adaptation created by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan

Author description

Duncan is an award winning writer and director. Plays include: Lungs (Paines Plough/Sheffield Crucible and Studio Theatre Washington D.C.), Platform (Old Vic Tunnels), Monster (Royal Exchange/Manchester International Festival), The Most Humane Way to Kill A Lobster (Theatre 503), I Wish To Apologise For My Part In The Apocalypse, So Say All of Us and Family Tree (all BBC Radio 4). Formerly Writer-in-Residence at Paines Plough and the Royal Exchange, he has completed attachments at the National Theatre and the Royal Court/BBC, is a member of the Old Vic New Voices Company and a fellow of the TS Eliot UK/US Exchange. He is the winner of two Bruntwood Playwriting Awards, the Old Vic Big Ambition Award, a Pearson Residency Award, 'The 50' Bursary, and has been nominated in the Best New Play category of the TMA and MEN Awards.