2017 has so far been a pretty big year for 1984.
After a jump in sales prompted the publisher of the George Orwell novel to order a 75,000 copy reprint, a stage adaptation of 1984 is headed to Broadway.
Orwell’s 1949 novel presents a dystopian future in which a fascist regime uses “Newspeak,” or ideologically pure propaganda, to control its subjects. Independent thinking, especially any thoughts questioning or opposing the ruling party, are punished as “thoughtcrime.”
After four successful runs in Britain, the 1984 adaptation created by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan will kick off June 22 at the Hudson Theatre in New York City for a limited engagement.
“The play is in doublethink,” co-writer and co-director Macmillan said early last year. “You follow a really coherent story, but almost like a magician’s trick, you may have seen a very different story than the person you came along with.”
The production will be produced by Sonia Friedman and Scott Rudin with a creative team that includes Chloe Lamford (set and costume), Natasha Chivers (lighting), Tom Gibbons (sound) and Tim Reid (video).
