1984
If shock value has any merit at all, then the Actor’s Gang revival of George Orwell’s dystopian classic ‘1984’ at the REDCAT is nothing short of electrifying. Pulsating with a feverish angst, founding member and director Tim Robbins captures, if not feeds on the Orwellian spirit, until all the incitement shorts out.
It is attention grabbing. More like a chokehold grip. The unrelenting cacophony of buzz and static, along with a combative, in-your-face lighting and stark set design create a bone-chilling backdrop for an explosive night of mind numbing brutality.
Nietzsche wrote, “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.” So too with this production that delivers grim overtures much in the same way the Fox Network claims to deliver the news. Fair and unbiased? Hardly.
The adapted play by Michael Gene Sullivan picks up two-thirds of the way through the novel with the interrogation and torture of prisoner 6079, aka Winston Smith (Cameron Dye), convicted of independent thought or “Crimethink.” Evidence of his crimes and an illicit affair are detailed in his journal and acted out by four Party Members (Brian T. Finney, Kaili Hollister, V.J. Foster, Steven M. Porter) in an effort to purge him of his insidious disloyalty to Big Brother.
In lieu of the fourth wall, Robbins craftily desensitizes and alienates the audience, turning them into apathetic voyeurs peering into the prisoner’s cell through the telescopic eye of Big Brother. The effect is discomforting and accusatory.
There is plenty of finger pointing squarely leveled throughout the show: at the current administration and its policies, but also at the willing spectators guilty of just wanting to see a good show. The “If you’re not with us, you’re against us” mentality is the very idea Orwell warns against. Odd then, that Robbins and Sullivan fail to reconcile that with their own slanted machinations.
It is, in spite of its soap box grandstanding and megaphone caterwauling call to arms still a lightning rod of fine theatre. Robbins and Sullivan collaborate well, even if it is what happens when two minds think alike; it leaves little room for any grey. The script is faithful to Orwell’s novel, even to the bitter end. Robbins flexes his directing chops with a confidence that borders on arrogance, but elicits sparks of brilliant clarity to shine through even the darkest moments.
With all due credit to the supporting cast that infect their steely roles with glimmers of humanity, Cameron Dye simply makes the show. Like a restless caged animal, Dye boldly ogles with a wide eyed, savage frenzy. Stripped down to a ragged, blood-stained shirt, Dye’s sinewy body jerks and twitches with punishing conviction, making his startling, slack jawed conversion all the more terrifying.
Back for a limited engagement through July 6 after its worldwide tour, “1984” proves it’s still relevant, but not to the degree Robbins and the Gang would have us believe.
“1984”
REDCAT
621 W. 2nd St.
LA, CA 90012
(located in the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex at the corner of 2nd and Hope Streets)
Runs through July 6
Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri, and Sat at 8:30pm
Sat and Sundays at 3pm
Additional evening performance on Sunday, July 6 at 7:30pm
PH: 213-237-2800
Web: www.redcat.org