1984: West End's hit adaptation set for Broadway, Australian cast announced
As George Orwell’s seminal book 1984 enjoys a surge in sales
following Donald Trump’s ascendency, the critically acclaimed West End
adaptation is set to tour the globe – with Tom Conroy picked to play the
lead role in Australia from May, and the production making its debut on
Broadway in June.
Published in 1949, the dystopic novel is set in a world of perpetual war and twisted truth, its citizens manipulated by the all-seeing Big Brother. Protagonist Winston Smith works at the euphemistically named Ministry of Truth, rewriting newspaper articles to support the party line – and starts keeping a diary in defiance of it.
Adapted and directed by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan, and produced by innovative theatre company Headlong, the Olivier-nominated take on the novel frames it from the vantage point of a book club from the distant future, as they dissect Winston’s diary.
Earning rave reviews, it has been seen by more than a quarter of a million people since premiering at the Nottingham Playhouse in 2013, and moving to the Almeida the following year.
In 2014, in the wake of the Wikileaks and Edward Snowden revelations, Icke told the Guardian Orwell’s text was “particularly current”. But as the world reacts to the Donald Trump government and its Newspeak-esque “alternative facts”, the directors now describe it as “horribly relevant”.
Headlong’s production premiered in Australia for a short run at the Melbourne Festival in 2015, but the 2017 Australian show – which has its premiere in Adelaide on 13 May before travelling to Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Perth – will feature a new and local cast.
Smith will be played by Tom Conroy, who is currently starring in Belvoir Street theatre’s production of Jasper Jones, and who will be joined by Paul Blackwell, Terence Crawford, Ursula Mills, Renato Musolino, Guy O’Grady, Yalin Ozucelik and Fiona Press.
Conroy told Guardian Australia the relevance of the play could not be overstated: “In today’s post-truth world, where ‘alternative facts’ are being openly used by the US state, I can’t think of a better play to have on our stages right now.”
He said he was thrilled and “a little nervous” to be playing the title role: “[Winston Smith] is one of the 20th century’s great literary anti-heroes. There are certain roles, like Hamlet, that you look at as an actor and want to dive into at any opportunity – but also want to run screaming from. How can you possibly do justice to everybody’s memory of these iconic characters?”
After the production’s Australian tour, 1984 will open with a new cast at Broadway’s Hudson Theatre on 22 June. The US cast has not yet been announced.
Published in 1949, the dystopic novel is set in a world of perpetual war and twisted truth, its citizens manipulated by the all-seeing Big Brother. Protagonist Winston Smith works at the euphemistically named Ministry of Truth, rewriting newspaper articles to support the party line – and starts keeping a diary in defiance of it.
Adapted and directed by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan, and produced by innovative theatre company Headlong, the Olivier-nominated take on the novel frames it from the vantage point of a book club from the distant future, as they dissect Winston’s diary.
Earning rave reviews, it has been seen by more than a quarter of a million people since premiering at the Nottingham Playhouse in 2013, and moving to the Almeida the following year.
In 2014, in the wake of the Wikileaks and Edward Snowden revelations, Icke told the Guardian Orwell’s text was “particularly current”. But as the world reacts to the Donald Trump government and its Newspeak-esque “alternative facts”, the directors now describe it as “horribly relevant”.
Headlong’s production premiered in Australia for a short run at the Melbourne Festival in 2015, but the 2017 Australian show – which has its premiere in Adelaide on 13 May before travelling to Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Perth – will feature a new and local cast.
Smith will be played by Tom Conroy, who is currently starring in Belvoir Street theatre’s production of Jasper Jones, and who will be joined by Paul Blackwell, Terence Crawford, Ursula Mills, Renato Musolino, Guy O’Grady, Yalin Ozucelik and Fiona Press.
Conroy told Guardian Australia the relevance of the play could not be overstated: “In today’s post-truth world, where ‘alternative facts’ are being openly used by the US state, I can’t think of a better play to have on our stages right now.”
He said he was thrilled and “a little nervous” to be playing the title role: “[Winston Smith] is one of the 20th century’s great literary anti-heroes. There are certain roles, like Hamlet, that you look at as an actor and want to dive into at any opportunity – but also want to run screaming from. How can you possibly do justice to everybody’s memory of these iconic characters?”
After the production’s Australian tour, 1984 will open with a new cast at Broadway’s Hudson Theatre on 22 June. The US cast has not yet been announced.
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