Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) (Oberon Modern Plays)

War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.

Winston Smith rewrites history for the Ministry of Truth, but when he’s handed a note that says simply ‘I love you’ by a woman he hardly knows, he decides to risk everything in a search for the real truth. In a world where cheap entertainment keeps the proles ignorant but content, where a war without end is always fought and the government is always watching, can Winston possibly hold onto what he feels inside? Or will he renounce everything, accept the Party’s reality and learn to love Big Brother?

‘Dunster – both in his faithful take on the story and in his sometimes extreme but always enthralling adaptation – gets close to the heart of Orwell’s warning, pointing up but not overemphasising its current political resonances.… Newspeak, Doublethink, Room 101 and Thought Police take on a chilling reality in this compelling production.’ – The Independent