ROOM 101... BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU... SUPER STATES... THOUGHT POLICE...

The novel which has most influenced the 21st century is brought to the stage in a thrilling new version by Ryan Craig.

On 4th April 1984, Winston Smith, comrade 6079, starts a diary. In a world where every action is painstakingly monitored and controlled, this simple act puts Winston’s life in jeopardy. A clandestine love affair with co-worker Julia further enrages the authorities, but can they truly trust each other?

And what of the mysterious O’Brien? Will he help them overthrow the regime, confront them with their most terrifying fears, or worse…? Shocking and fantastical when first written in 1949, Orwell’s novel has remained one of the most chillingly prescient novels of the last century.

The cast includes actor, comedian and musician Keith Allen (The Young Ones, The Pembrokeshire Murders, Pinter 3 in the West End) as O’Brien, with Mark Quartley (BBC’s Inside Man, The Tempest – RSC) as Winston, Eleanor Wyld (Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice – Shakespeare’s Globe) as Julia, and David Birrell (King John – RSC, Bodies) as Parsons. Niamh Bennett plays the Voice of the Telescreen, with Lewis Hart as the camera operator.

Ryan Craig’s recent work includes Charlotte and Theodore. Nominated as Most Promising Playwright at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards in 2005, he has gone on to win acclaim for The Holy Rosenbergs and Our Class at the National Theatre, The Glass Room and Filthy Business at Hampstead Theatre.

Director Lindsay Posner is one of the UK’s most sought-after directors whose most recent credits include West End runs of Noises Off and A View From The Bridge.

Production image credit: Simon Annand