“Are we there yet?”
That’s the question that has kept Big Brother alive and unwell as a pop-culture euphemism for 57 years, when George Orwell’s “1984” first cautioned us against passively settling into an inevitable, totalitarian dystopia.
We now live in an era of global terrorism, widespread fear and increasing governmental infringements on our personal freedoms. So … are we there yet?
Not even close. In films like “The Path to 9/11,” it became inescapably clear that Big Brother is not watching. In fact, many want to know … why not?
The 9/11 Commission’s damning conclusion was that the CIA had several opportunities to kill Osama Bin Laden, each blown by the government’s insistence on strict compliance with U.S. law. It also determined Washington knew some kind of spectacular attack was coming before 9/11 but was too bureaucratically bloated to stop it.
So while we may have in our government an odd amalgam of idealism, skittishness, disorganization and gross bureaucratic incompetence, we don’t have Big Brother, capable of controlling our every thought. Safe to say that in Orwell’s Oceania, no one would have been concerned with bin Laden’s rights. He would have been road kill a decade ago.
Miners Alley Playhouse is presenting a bleak and heavy-
handed new adaptation of “1984” written by company member Walter L. Newton. This thought-provoking new staging is intended to give us renewed pause that, with government intrusions like the Patriot Act, we’re barreling down that Orwellian path.
Hardly. In this age of digital cable and myspace and livejournal and extreme fundamentalism, we’re a far cry from public hangings, thought police, hate week, no churches, illegal diaries and TVs that are instead watching you.
We’re lucky to have a plucky little company like MAP willing to take on dicey, sprawling original premieres such as “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden,” “Dead White Males” and now, “1984.” MAP has a fearless willingness to take on projects far beyond the capability of most community theaters its size. But the result lays bare the best and worst of undertaking high-risk theater at this level.
Newton picks up Orwell’s story with protagonist Winston Smith (Dell Domnik) at work doctoring historical records for the Ministry of Truth. He soon takes up with rebel co-worker Julia (a great Julie Rada). Their affair is illegal because sex is not for pleasure, and they are betrayed by a villainous double-agent named O’Brien (Paul Page) who is written so over the top all he’s lacking is the twirling mustache.
The second act is almost entirely one extended electric-
shock torture scene that will lack impact with any casual observer of “24.”
What’s best about this staging is that it is being done at all. Page and Rada offer terrific, ferociously committed performances. Rada, a ringer for Natalie Portman, sells Julia’s monumental swing from idealistic rebel to defeated zombie.
But the staging leaves audiences dispassionate rather than riveted because of its utter lack of nuance. There are zero shades of gray. Page brings restraint to a sadistic, comic-book bad guy lacking even a hint of humanity, but there’s little more on the page than a cartoon. Things get so over the top that audiences are giggling rather than crying. To make it less absurd would be to make it more frightening – and thus more relevant to this audience.
As Winston, Domnik does the best he can with some pretty stilted language. But much of the secondary acting is strictly rudimentary – including a bit part played by Newton himself.
The staging is at times sloppy or confused, such as when our fleeing couple takes comfort in having found a room that is not under surveillance – yet we see a telescreen staring directly at them. Off-stage conversations can be overheard. Two British accents confuse any sense of place. And in a world with no free media, one character can be seen reading The New York Times!
In an odd way, I left “1984” feeling more hopeful about this mad world we actually live in. Because no matter how screwed up we are, we’re nowhere near Oceania – yet.
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-820-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
“1984” | ** 1/2 RATING
DRAMA | Miners Alley Playhouse,
124 Washington St., Golden | Adapted
from George Orwell’s novel by
Walter L. Newton | Directed by Rick
Bernstein | Starring Dell Domnik,
Julie Rada and Paul Page |
THROUGH OCT. 22 | 7:30 p.m. Fridays-
Saturdays, 6 p.m. Sundays | 2
hours | $16-$18 | 303-935-3044
minersalley.com
