{"id":54289,"date":"2017-06-28T10:20:49","date_gmt":"2017-06-28T14:20:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/broadways-1984-wont-make-you-vomit-at-least-not-for-the-reason-you-think-review\/"},"modified":"2017-06-28T10:20:49","modified_gmt":"2017-06-28T14:20:49","slug":"broadways-1984-wont-make-you-vomit-at-least-not-for-the-reason-you-think-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/broadways-1984-wont-make-you-vomit-at-least-not-for-the-reason-you-think-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Broadway\u2019s \u20181984\u2019 Won\u2019t Make You Vomit \u2014 At Least Not for the Reason You Think: REVIEW"},"content":{"rendered":"

Broadway\u2019s \u20181984\u2019 Won\u2019t Make You Vomit \u2014 At Least Not for the Reason You Think: REVIEW<\/b><\/p>\n

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Audience members are <\/span>reportedly puking and fainting<\/span><\/a> at the Hudson Theatre, where a stage adaptation of <\/span>1984<\/span><\/i> opened June 22. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that watching a protagonist for the resistance get brutally maimed by the state is not for the faint at heart. But those prix fixe lunches are more likely being lost from sensory overload \u2014 blinding lights, ear-splitting noise, and copious stage blood \u2014 than from the bracing relevance of George Orwell\u2019s dystopian narrative, which is not rendered all that clearly here.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Gruesome though these much publicized moments of stagecraft may be, to call<\/a> them climactic would be a stretch. If the production\u2019s otherwise disjointed and muddled storytelling up to that point allows your mind to wander, the deafening bloodbath will certainly jolt you to attention. But whether your body revolts, too, will depend entirely on our tolerance for torture porn.<\/span><\/p>\n

As adapted and directed for the stage by Robert Icke and Duncan MacMillan, Orwell\u2019s story is cast in bold, theatrical strokes. The time, at least, is clear; the place and individual locales are less so in Chloe Lamford\u2019s static scenic design, a characterless, wood-paneled room that transforms,\u00a0as the production comes to a head, with a satisfying flourish. <\/span><\/p>\n

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We know, at least, that we\u2019re in a totalitarian state (Oceania, formerly Britain) and that \u201cBig Brother\u201d is watching. Any hint of dissent, or \u201cthought crime,\u201d will be monitored and punished. If you\u2019ve read the book since its recent surge in popularity, or skimmed a synopsis in high school, you likely know all of this. That much, at least, Ickly and MacMillan are counting on, given their focus on the central romance over establishing a clearly detailed context for it.<\/span><\/p>\n

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With a\u00a0love-in-a-hopeless-place plot as the story\u2019s engine, it\u2019s unfortunate that sparks don\u2019t exactly fly between co-stars Tom Sturridge and Olivia Wilde. As Winston Smith, Sturridge is\u00a0listless, more like an emo singer-songwriter than an undercover revolutionary. And though\u00a0Wilde brings a vigorous energy to her Broadway debut, their tepid affair gives off little steam. As their double-crossing antagonist, it\u2019s Reed Birney who commands the show, just as he does the lovers\u2019 fate. <\/span><\/p>\n

The world has changed since this production first premiered in London in 2014. Orwell\u2019s 1949 novel <\/span>catapulted onto the bestsellers list<\/span><\/a> following Kellyanne Conway\u2019s assertion of \u201calternative facts,\u201d a phrase lifted right from its pages. A government ruled by the cult of personality that\u2019s rewriting the past, curbing dissent, collecting surveillance \u2014 it\u2019s all enough to make you nauseous. But you don\u2019t need to sit in the dark\u00a0with your phone off to know that.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Follow Naveen Kumar on Twitter: @Mr_NaveenKumar<\/a>
\n(photos: julieta cervantes)<\/em><\/p>\n

The post Broadway\u2019s \u20181984\u2019 Won\u2019t Make You Vomit \u2014 At Least Not for the Reason You Think: REVIEW<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Broadway\u2019s \u20181984\u2019 Won\u2019t Make You Vomit \u2014 At Least Not for the Reason You Think: REVIEW<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n