Thursday evening on the 15th of June I went along to the Nottingham Playhouse and Alemida Theatre’s production of George Orwell’s 1984 at Brisbane’s lovely QPAC Theatre. Orwell’s novel follows the story of low-ranking community member, Winston Smith. Winston lives in a time where technology and surveillance has taken control of society, Winston is constantly being watched by The Party and Big Brother, two figures that control everything in the nation of Oceania threw a freedom-less law system. 

 

During the performance I thoroughly enjoyed Ursula Mill’s performance playing Julia. Mill’s ability to adjust not only her tone of speech but the way she carried herself so quickly was outstanding. Towards the beginning of the play Winston, played by Tom Conroy, was suspicious of Julia, this forced her character to constantly be quickly clicking between overly intimidating and sweet and likeable. Mill’s performance was breathtakingly strong, she allowed the audience to watch her character develop on stage and grow attached. 

 

I would also like to discuss Tom Conroy’s performance playing Winston. Conroy’s character came with great pressure, rarely leaving front of stage he had all eyes on him and great expectations. Although his character rarely changed his attitude from a constant state of nerves and paranoia, Conroy’s performance during the last new scenes where Winton is tortured by O’Brien (played by Terence Crawford), was nothing short of moving. The audience felt his pain and it was obvious by the ear piercing silence that although majority of audience members already knew the plot of the story, they were heartbroken to see Winton end up where he did. 

 

In addition to the fine works of the cast, I was especially impressed by the lighting and sound crew. Lighting Designer Natasha Chivers had every single flicker of a light down to a T, not a single beat was missed often shocking the audience into focus or a change of emotion. 

 

Overall I have nothing negative to say about this performance, myself and my guest thoroughly enjoyed our 1 hour and 40 minute experience at QPAC. If you’re a fan of highly emotionally driven acting, it would be in your best interest to check out the actor and actresses involved in this production. 

 

By Charlie Ruhle