Winston Smith Arrives in Valhalla

“And terrifying it truly is”

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In these disquieting times, Americans have become almost morbidly fascinated with George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. Allusions to Orwell and the dystopian world he created have become ubiquitous in today’s polarized political climate, bandied about by newscasters and pundits and transmitted through our telescreens with alarming regularity. The cautionary tale written seventy years ago has taken on a newfound relevance as we wrestle with the implications of technology and the new world order it is forging. Imbued with the unfathomable pull of that which is disturbing – like large roadkill that commands attention, overriding the impulse to look away – Orwell’s riveting message seems to be screaming to be heard.

Fortunately for Americans everywhere, heeding the message has just become easier, thanks to New York-based Aquila Theatre, a traveling ensemble whose mission it is “to make classical works accessible to the greatest number.” With a 2019-2020 run that began in October, Aquila will bring its production of Orwell’s dystopian classic to forty US towns and cities across the country. Its third performance took place at Westchester Community College in the hamlet of Valhalla, New York on October 5th.

Cameron Robertson, Reece Richardson, Michael Catlege *

Bringing yet another production of 1984 to the New York metropolitan area must have been challenging – especially on the heels of the Broadway staging featuring Hollywood A-listers Tom Sturridge and Olivia Wilde in 2017. Yet if Director Desiree Sanchez had any misgivings about it, she need not have; her production has much to offer, even to those who have seen the Big Brother Broadway production. Eager to do “something that had not recently been done,” Sanchez opted to use the Michael Gene Sullivan adaptation of the novel (which had, in fact, been done by MidCity Productions at the Flux Factory in Long Island City, NY in 2016). Requiring only six cast members, the Sullivan version works well for those on a modest budget; it also seemed to align more closely with Sanchez’s personal objectives. Referring to the Icke and Macmillan version used in the Broadway presentation, she explained: “their concentration on torture aspects wasn’t where I really wanted to go with it.” Sanchez chose instead to spotlight the mental aspects of the story, noting: “A psychological approach really appeals to me. It’s even more frightening – it’s terrifying!”

Cameron Roberston, Tora Alexander, Michael Catlege, Daniel Cassidy, Reece Richardson

And terrifying it truly is. Forgoing the special effects of the Broadway production, the stark set, featuring only a few metal benches, the ever-present telescreen, and three multi-purpose mirrored panels, reeks of the surveillance state. Sanchez says she was drawn to the use of mirrors as they not only force the prisoners in Room 101 to see “how depraved they look,” a torture in itself, but also contribute to “the feeling that someone is always watching you.” In addition, Sanchez “wanted to have the interrogators and audience reflected in the mirrors – to have the audience a part of it,” amplifying, in a sense, the viewers’ voyeurism. Oddly, the mirrors do even more than Sanchez had hoped for, creating the infinity mirror effect at certain angles, while at others, distorting reflections into creepy funhouse-like images, both underscoring the perception that nothing is what it seems, and to be sure, in Orwell’s novel, nothing is. And with an Orwellian duality, the panels double as video monitors, projecting at key points recent footage of refugees in rubber rafts and a present-day Prole district comprised of English council flats, lending a sense of timeliness to the despair.

Reece Richardson

Six actors take on multiple roles in this production, and Reece Richardson is a standout in the role of Winston Smith. Despite possessing a robust physique somewhat at odds with Winston’s sickly scrawniness, Richardson is utterly convincing. Clad in a hospital gown, accentuating the character’s vulnerability, Richardson delivers a powerful performance that leaves him, in the words of Sanchez, “absolutely wiped” at the end of each show. And even for old Orwell hands, Sanchez’s decision to cast a woman, Joanna Bending, in the role of O’Brien lends an element of surprise and previously unexplored perspective to the story. Says Sanchez: “A lot of plays tend to forget that women do have agency and like to play into the stereotype because it exists.” Taking exception to this, Sanchez points out that even in ancient cultures women had agency, asserting: “The minute we stop seeing that all people are capable of this, we can’t move on.” An impressive supporting cast includes Daniel Cassidy, Michael Catlege, Cameron Robertson, and Tora Alexander in the role of Julia.

Tora Alexander, Reece Richardson, Daniel Cassidy, Michael Catlege, Joanna Bending

A complete listing of upcoming performances can be found on the Aquila Theatre website. And with performances yet to come to twenty-eight towns and cities across the US, there is no reason to miss this chillingly evocative dramatic interpretation of Orwell’s timeless novel.

While I did not catch sight of them, Valkyries must have been flitting about the wooded campus of Westchester Community College the night of October 5^th, for after seventy long years, spiritually annihilated 6079 Smith W. finally made it to Valhalla.

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* All photographs used by permission: © Aquila Theatre. Photography by Richard Termine.

Carol Biederstadt thanks Director Desiree Sanchez.

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Uploaded November 10 2019