If you want to see a dystopian love story that manages to throb, numb, and bleed your heart out, 1.9.8.4.—Giggling Iguana’s production of the George Orwell classic 1984—will be right up your alley.
1.9.8.4. takes place in a seemingly totalitarian society (Victory City, a take on modern-day Victoria) run by the mysterious and illusive Big Brother and his mind-numbed robotic followers, who thrive off “embracing the hate” and controlling people by ridding them of emotions.
In a society of strict stature there are usually a few recluse rebels who have different beliefs—or, in this case, just want to have the right to have their own beliefs.
The story is set around star-crossed lovers, who, in a society where they are repressed from loving and must fully embrace the hate, find themselves in a torturous situation where their inner morality is put to the test.
Eric Holmgren, Ariel Slack, Christine Karpiak, Randi Edmundson, and Tito Martin-Nemtin play their roles passionately and timely, and keep the audience engaged as they tell this story in a quirky, artistic, and harrowing way.
Holmgren and Slack had me feeling for their characters’ love, torture, and inner rebellion. Karpiak plays a fierce, fearful, and unforgiving authoritarian. Edmundson and Martin-Nemtin’s Greek chorus of conjoining dialogue places the story together perfectly.
Learning Orwell’s science-fiction-esque dialect was a bit tough, but it does add to the appeal of the story and its satirical nature.
Roger Carr and the rest of the crew took full advantage of the cast, creating an action-packed rendition of a gigantically complex classic.
1.9.8.4
Until Dec 2
Intrepid Theatre
intrepidtheatre.com