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1984

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By George Orwell
A New Adaptation Created by Robert Icke & Duncan Macmillan
Presented in association with Headlong, Almeida Theatre, & Nottingham Playhouse

April, 1984. Comrade 6079, Winston Smith, thinks a thought, starts a diary, and falls in love. But Big Brother is always watching, and the door to Room 101 can swing open in the blink of an eye. The definitive book of the 20th century is re-examined in a radical, award-winning adaptation exploring surveillance, identity and why Orwell’s vision of the future is as relevant now as ever. This ground-breaking production comes direct from the UK and an extended smash-hit run in the West End.

@americanrep  #1984play

Don’t miss the post-performance discussion series co-hosted by A.R.T. and the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School. Click here for more information about dates and speakers. 

Need to know

There is no guarantee that standing room will be available for sold-out performances however, if it becomes available a limited number of standing room tickets may be sold in person for select shows on the day of each show at 12 noon. The number of standing room tickets will not be known in advance of the ticket services office opening at 12PM. Please call our Ticket Services office with any ticket related questions at 617.547.8300. Hours are: Tuesday-Sunday, Noon-5PM.

Read more

Click here to read the program note by show creators Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan. 

Click here to read the show’s program. 

Click here to read more about the show in our spring Guide

Click here to view the full 1984 Educational Toolkit.

Notable dates

ASL Dates

March 1, 7:30PM – March 5, 2PM

Audio Described Dates

March 3, 7:30PM – March 6, 2PM

Open Captioned

Feb. 25, 7:30PM – Feb. 28, 2PM

Age Appropriateness

Recommended for grade 10 and up or ages 15+

This production contains loud noises including gun shots, bright and flashing lights that create a strobe-like effect, and scenes that some audience members may find distressing. In-class preparation and/or consultation with the A.R.T. Education Department is encouraged prior to attendance. Please consult the 1984 Toolkit at
americanrepertorytheater.org/toolkits for further details.

Discussions

1984 Discussions & Surveillance Cinema Series

Discussion Series

Over the run of 1984, A.R.T. will co-host with the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard’s Kennedy School a series of special panel discussions around questions of surveillance, totalitarianism, and the role of technology in popular uprisings. These discussions are free and open to the public. Click here for more information about dates and speakers.

Surveillance Cinema Series

Tuesday, February 9 – Thursday, February 11

Surveillance Cinema Repertory Series

Co-Presented with the Brattle Theatre

In collaboration with the American Repertory Theatre’s run of 1984, The Brattle Theatre offers this series of films examining different aspects of life under the watchful eye of a ‘Big Brother.’ Click here for more information.

Press

Credits

Creative team

Adaptor/Director

Robert Icke

Duncan Macmillan

Adaptor/Director

Robert Icke

A.R.T.: Debut. Robert is the associate director of the Almeida Theatre. Robert was associate director of Headlong from 2010–2013, artistic director of the Arden Theatre Company in Stockton-on-Tees from 2003–2007 and of the Swan Theatre Company in Cambridge from 2005–2008, where he was awarded the Susie Gautier-Smith Prize for his contribution to theater. His production of 1984 (which he co-adapted and directed with Duncan Macmillan) won Best Director at the UK Theatre Awards and was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best New Play. Robert was selected as one of the Hospital Club’s 100 most influential people working across Britain’s creative industries in 2014. Other theater includes: Uncle VanyaThe FeverMr Burns, Almeida; Oresteia, Almeida, West End; Boys, Romeo & Juliet, Headlong; The Alchemist, Liverpool Playhouse.

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Adaptor/Director

Duncan Macmillan

A.R.T.: Debut. Duncan Macmillan is an award-winning playwright and director. Plays include: People, Places and Things, National Theatre, Headlong, West End; 1984, Headlong, Nottingham Playhouse, Almeida, West End, International Tours; Every Brilliant Thing, Paines Plough, Pentabus, Barrow Street, HBO, International Tours; Lungs, Studio Theatre, Paines Plough, Sheffield Theatre, Various Productions Worldwide; 2071 co-written with Chris Rapley, Royal Court, Hamburg Schauspielhaus; Atmen, Schaubühne Berlin; The Forbidden Zone, Salzburg Fesitval, Schaubühne Berlin; Reise durch die Nacht adapt. Friederike Mayröcker created with Katie Mitchell and Lyndsey Turner, Schauspielhaus Köln, Theatertreffen Berlin, Festival d’Avignon; Wunschloses Unglück adapt. Peter Handke, Burgtheater Vienna; Monster, Royal Enchange/Manchester International Festival. Awards include: Best New Play at the Off West End Awards 2013 for Lungs; the Nestroy Preis for Best German Language Production, 2013. His work with director Katie Mitchell has been selected for Theatertreffen and Festival d’Avignon. Duncan was also the recipient of two awards in the inaugural Bruntwood Playwriting Competition, 2006. 1984 was nominated as Best New Play at the Olivier Awards, 2014 and won the UK Theatre Award for Best Director (Duncan Macmillan and Robert Icke).

 

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Designer

Chloe Lamford

Designer

Chloe Lamford

A.R.T.: Debut. Other theater includes: Boys, Headlong; Cannibals, Royal Exchange in Manchester; Praxis Makes Perfect, National Theatre Wales; The Events, ATC/Young Vic; The History Boys, Crucible; Circle Mirror Transformation, Royal Court; Donmar; Trafalgar 2; Young Vic; National Theatre Scotland; National Theatre Wales, Edinburgh Festival; Manchester Royal Exchange; Sky Arts Live Drama; Wilton’s Music Hall; Crucible; Sheffield/Bush; Gate; Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House and Tour; Clean Break; Soho; Birmingham Rep; Salisbury Playhouse; Sherman, Cardiff; Tricycle/Mercury, Colchester. Opera includes: Malmo Opera House, English Touring Opera, Scottish Opera/RCS. She received the Arts Foundation Fellowship for Design for Performance 2013. Winner of the 2007 Theatre Design Award from the TMA for Small Miracle (Mercury Theatre, Colchester). Training: Wimbledon School of Art.

 

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Lighting Designer

Natasha Chivers

Lighting Designer

Natasha Chivers

A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway: Macbeth, National Theatre of Scotland, Broadway, Lincoln Center, Japan Tour. West End: Oresteia, Almeida, West End; 1984, Headlong, Almeida, West End, UK & International Tours; That Face, Royal Court, West End. Other theater includes: Who Cares, Fireworks, Adler & Gibb, The Mistress Contract, The Djinns of Eidgah, Royal Court; Green Snake, National Theatre of China; Praxis Makes Perfect, Neon Neon, National Theatre Wales; Statement of Regret, National Theatre. Dance includes: Four Fridas, Run!, Renaissance, Greenwich & Docklands International Festivals; Mesmerics, Metheus, BalletBoyz: theTALENT, Linbury Studio; Motor Show, LIFT, Brighton Festival; Electric Hotel, Sadler’s Wells/Fuel; Electric Counterpoint, ROH; Broken, Scattered, Motionhouse; Encore, Sadler’s Wells/BalletBoyz. Awards: TMA Award Happy Days at Sheffield Crucible (Best Design); Olivier Award for Sunday in the Park With George (Best Lighting Design).

 

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Sound Designer

Tom Gibbons

Sound Designer

Tom Gibbons

A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway: A View From the Bridge, Young Vic, West End. West End: Oresteia, Almeida; 1984, Headlong, Almeida, UK & International Tours. Other theater includes: People, Places and Things, National Theatre; Faustus, White Devil, As You Like It, RSC; Translations, ETT, Sheffield Crucible; Happy Days, A Season in the Congo, Disco Pigs, Young Vic; Mr Burns, Almeida; The Absence of War, Romeo & Juliet, Headlong; Lion Boy, Complicite; Henry IV, Julius Caesar, Donmar, St Ann’s Brooklyn; Anna Karenina, Manchester Exchange; Breeders, St James; Grounded, Gate Theatre; The Spire, Salisbury Playhouse; London, The Angry Brigade, Paines Plough, Bush; Roundabout Season, Shoreditch Town Hall, Paines Plough.

 

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Video Designer

Tim Reid

Video Designer

Tim Reid

Tim has designed video effects and playback systems for shows that range from experimental small-scale works to full-scale opera, ballet and theater productions. He has designed video for Vox Motus, National Theatre of Scotland, The Royal Ballet, The Edinburgh International Festival, DV8 Physical Theatre, Wee Stories, David Leddy, Dogstar, Theatre By The Lake, The Arches, Random Accomplice, Dancebase and TAG. He has worked as Head of Video for the National Theatre of Scotland and toured internationally as a video technician with DV8 Physical Theatre. More information and images of his work can be found at www.timreid.info.

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Associate Director

Daniel Raggett

Associate Director

Daniel Raggett

A.R.T.: Debut. As Director: A Marked Man, HighTide; 24 Hour Plays: Old Vic New Voices 2012, Old Vic; The Seagull, Bloomsbury; Close, Arcola; August Town, RADA; Mr Kolpert, C soco, Edinburgh. As Associate Director: 1984, Almeida, West End, UK and International Tours; Bad Jews, Theatre Royal Bath, West End; The Iliad, The Odyssey, Almeida. As Resident/Staff Director: Three Days in the Country, A Small Family Business, National Theatre; The Nether, Headlong, West End. As Assistant Director: Romeo & Juliet, Headlong, UK Tour; Noises Off, Old Vic, UK tour; Abigail’s Party, Theatre Royal Bath, UK tour; The Alchemist, Liverpool Playhouse; Children’s Children, Almeida; 24 Hour Musicals Celebrity Gala, Old Vic. Daniel is an Associate Artist of HighTide Festival Theatre.

 

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Cast

Parsons

Simon Coates

Parsons

Simon Coates

A.R.T.: Debut. Theater includes: Romeo & Juliet, Headlong; Translations, Arcadia, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Pygmalion, Murmuring Judges, Arturo Ui, Black Snow, National Theatre; Coriolanus, The Merry Wives Of Windsor, Loveplay, Luminosity, The Taming Of The Shrew, The Comedy Of Errors, RSC; Plenty, Sheffield; The Prince of Homburg, Donmar Warehouse; As You Like It, Cheek by Jowl (Olivier Award nomination, New York Drama Desk Award nomination); Birmingham; Gate Theatre, Dublin; Hampstead; Bristol Old Vic; Chichester. TV/Film include: “Doctors,” “Holby City,” “EastEnders,” Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Beginner’s Luck.

 

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O'Brien

Tim Dutton

O'Brien

Tim Dutton

A.R.T.: Debut. West End: Dangerous Corner, Insufficiency, A Handful of Dust, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Cider with Rosie, She’s in Your Hands, London Assurance, War and Pieces, The Lucky Ones, Victory. TV/Film include: “Death in Paradise,” “DCI Banks,” “Midsomer Murders,” “New Tricks,” “A Risk Worth Taking,” “Bonkers,” “Outside the Rules,” “HMO,” “Ally McBeal,” “Thanks,” The Infiltrator, Delight, The Rendezvous, No Snow, Detonator, Terminal, The Queen of Sheba’s Pearls, Tooth, The Bourne Identity, Dead by Monday, Hard to Forget, Darkness Falls, St. Ives, Death on Everest, Tom and Viv.

 

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Charrington

Stephen Fewell

Charrington

Stephen Fewell

A.R.T.: Debut. West End: ENRON, Headlong, Royal Court; The Long and the Short and the Tall. Other theater includes: Romeo & Juliet, Paradise Lost, Headlong; The Iliad, The Odyssey, Almeida; Manchester Sound: The Massacre; Breaking The Code; The Tempest, Barbican, Palestine; Henry IV, Parts I & II, Bristol Old Vic; The Lie, King’s Head. TV/Film include: “The Courtroom” (CH4), “All Rise for Julian Clary” (BBC), Sexdrive. Radio includes: Frankenstein, Vienna, Wildthyme, Bernice Summerfield, Doctor Who. Training: Oxford University. Stephen chairs the JMK Trust for theatre directors; jmktrust.org.

 

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Martin

Christopher Patrick Nolan

A.R.T.: Debut. Broadway: The Seagull, Royal Court. West End: Macbeth, BAM; War Horse, National Theatre; Stones In His Pockets. Other theater includes: Blair’s Children, Cockpit; Faith and Cold Reading, Live Theatre; Scorched, Old Vic; Twelfth Night/Macbeth, Chichester Festival Theatre; AC/DC, Alice Trilogy, Royal Court; The Water Harvest, National Theatre; Molly Sweeney, Theatr Clwyd; The Changeling & Of Mice & Men, Southwark Playhouse; Cardenio, Shakespeare’s Globe; Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, Perth Rep. TV includes: "Humans,“ ”Macbeth,“ ”Titanic”.

 

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Syme

Ben Porter

Syme

Ben Porter

A.R.T.: Debut. West End: Woman in Black; Beckett; What the Butler Saw, National Theatre; The Invention of Love; Enemy of the People; The Heiress. Other theater includes: Time of My Life, Scarborough, 59E59 New York; Absurd Person Singular, Life of Riley, Scarborough, UK Tours; Orwell: A Celebration, Trafalgar Studios; The Tempest, Liverpool Playhouse; Edward II, Sheffield Crucible; Noises Off, Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh; Disposing of The Body, Hampstead Theatre; Victory, Theatre de Gennevilliers, Paris; Hamlet, Greenwich Theatre. TV/Film include: "Manchild," "Casualty," "Covington Cross," "West-beach," School for Seduction, Young Blades.

 

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Winston

Matthew Spencer

Winston

Matthew Spencer

A.R.T.: Debut. Theater includes: Romeo & Juliet, Headlong; Tartuffe, Watermill Theatre Newbury, Tour; Bent, Trafalgar Studios; Nicholas Nickleby, Tour, Gielgud Theatre and Toronto; War Horse, New London Theatre; Hamlet, White Bear, Kennington; This Happy Breed, Theatre Royal, Bath; Atman, Finborough Theatre; The Busy Body, Southwark Playhouse; Sleuth, Watermill, Newbury; Macbeth, Orange Tree Theatre. TV/Film include: “My Family,” AliceThe Runner. Training: Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

 

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Mrs Parsons

Mandi Symonds

Mrs Parsons

Mandi Symonds

A.R.T.: Debut. West End: Carrie’s War, Sadler’s Wells, West End. Other theater includes: The Knitting Circle, Soho Theatre; Amazonia, Midnight Hour, Young Vic; Menopause The Musical, Shaw Theatre; Mary Poppins, Prince Edward; Thatcher’s Women, Paines Plough, Tricycle; The Miracle Plays, Oxford Stage Company; The Mystery Plays, Liverpool Playhouse, St Bartholomew’s Church; Godspell, Barbican; Zipp, Duchess; Peer Gynt, National Theatre; Romeo & Juliet, Shakespeare in the Park; As You Like It, Wilbur Theatre Boston & US Tour. TV/Film include: Scrubbers (dir. Mai Zeterlin) and the award-winning Perfect Image.

 

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Julia

Hara Yannas

Julia

Hara Yannas

A.R.T.: Debut. Theater includes: The House of Bernarda Alba, Oresteia, Almeida; Mare Rider, Arcola, International Tour; Britannicus, Wilton’s Music Hall; Pericles, Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park; Uncle Vanya, Arcola, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare’s Globe; Tales of the Harrow Road, Soho Theatre; it felt empty when the heart went at first but it is alright now..., Arcola, Clean Break. TV/Film include: “The Musketeers,” “Law and Order,” “The Smoke,” “The Bible,” “Holby City,” Patient Zero. Training: LAMDA.

 

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Child

Faye Giordano

A.R.T.: Debut. Theater includes: Velveteen Rabbit (lead), Boston Center for Arts; Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, Wizard of Oz, Avenue Q (voiceovers), Seacoast Repertory Theatre; Peter Pan the Musical, Prescott Park Arts Festival, several youth productions at the Leddy Center, Ogunquit Playhouse, and Patrick Dorow Productions. Faye is 8 years old and attends St. Patrick Catholic School in Portsmouth, NH.

 

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Child

Addison Oken

Child

Addison Oken

A.R.T.: Waitress (Lulu). Children's Productions: Wonka Kids (Veruca), Annie Jr. (Annie), All Newton Music School; The Sound of Music (Maria), Seussical Jr. (Horton), Needham Creative Arts. Other: Commercials (Edward Jones, Red Sox/NESN), modeling, short films. She also studies dance and in her free time enjoys reading and creative writing. 

 

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Additional staff

Production Stage Manager

Taylor Brennan

Production Stage Manager

Taylor Brennan

A.R.T.: Stage Manager: HEAR WORD!Burn All Night; Notes from the Field: Doing Time in Education1984; O.P.C.The Shape She MakesThe Donkey Show. Assistant Stage Manager: Bedlam's Sense & SensibilityThe Night of the IguanaFingersmithRoosevElvisKansas City Choir BoyNatasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812The Heart of Robin HoodAll the WayThe Glass MenagerieThe Lily’s RevengeOnce. Production Associate: Prometheus BoundThe Blue FlowerCabaret. Education/Training: Graduate of Boston University (Summa cum laude) College of Fine Arts.

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Production Manager

Cate Bates

Associate Video Designer

Ian Valkeith

Re-Lighter

Marc Gough

Re-Sounder

Matthew Russell

Company Stage Manager

Andy Ralph

Technical Stage Manager

Ben Marshall

Deputy Stage Manager

Matthew Lambart

Wardrobe Manager

Ryan Walklett