Senior Drama: Why 1984?

Rockway’s senior drama, “1984” by George Orwell is set to hit the stage on February 27th through March 1st. But why was this script selected? We asked the director, Alan Sapp, that very question:

Why did we pick “1984” for this year’s Senior play?

We keep a collection of play scripts at school and I stumbled across the adaptation of “1984”. At the time, the politics of the US was shaping up to be full of drama, with the election of Donald Trump.

Since we finalized our decision to produce the play, the political news coming from the States has become even more polarizing. Over the course of the Summer of 2018, there were a number of references to “Orwellian” statements or events in American politics.

Across the world, there are extremely oppressive regimes in Communist countries where enemies of the State have been killed or disappeared. In Orwell’s world, this means becoming an “unperson”.

I also have become increasingly aware of how much surveillance is now a part of our everyday lives. On the plus side, criminals (like the one who carried out the shooting at the synagogue in Pennsylvania in the Fall) can now be tracked via their cell phone(s) and brought to justice much more quickly.

Of course, what that means is that all of us with cell phones have tracking devices in them and so, conceivably, a person with technical know-how can always figure out where we are.

“1984” was written by George Orwell in 1949, and was his last published piece before he died. Here is a quote from him about the play:

I do not believe that the kind of society I describe necessarily WILL arrive, but I believe that something resembling it COULD arrive. The moral to be drawn from the dangerous nightmare situation is a simple one: Don’t let it happen. It depends on you.

This story is still very important and timely, not only as a cautionary tale, but as a check-in, to see how much of what Orwell imagined has, in fact, come to pass.

Consider coming to see Rockway’s production! Tickets are available online.

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Source: Rockway.ca