Scottish theatres launch new adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-Four

A new theatrical adaptation of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four has been produced through a collaboration between three Scottish theatres: Dundee Rep, Edinburgh’s Lyceum, and Glasgow’s Citizen.

Directed by Dominic Hill and written by Chris Hannan, the production incorporates speculative biography regarding Orwell’s tuberculosis treatment in a hospital near Glasgow. The play features Jack Tarlton in a dual role, portraying both Orwell and the protagonist Winston. The staging utilizes industrial noise, rusty scaffolding, and blackout sequences to depict the totalitarian state of Oceania. The production explores themes of extremism and the nature of facts through dialogues between Orwell and a doctor who served as a fascist opponent during the Spanish Civil War.