My Initial Reaction to 1984

My initial reaction to 1984 is quite a positive one, though I think it will take more research to understand the play fully. The story was written in 1948 by George Orwell and it was his vision of the future. George Orwell had lived through both World Wars so he had seen a lot of change occur in society and this may have played a part in forming his views that he expressed through his literature.

1984 is a vision of the future, where the government (Big Brother) is always watching the citizens that live under their control. Everyone is controlled and freedom of speech and thought are banned; they do the same jobs, eat the same food and see the same thing on the television screen each and everyday- screens that broadcast 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If anyone defies them, they are found and then either killed or turned into non rebellious members of society.

It is said that the story of 1984 is still relevant today and even that some of Orwell's predictions have come to pass. I agree with this statement partially. The idea that we are always watched can be related to today's society; we have cards that can track our locations and movements, there is CCTV in many public areas and governments can monitor our searches on line. This could mean that we don't have any privacy, similarly to the characters in 1984. However I don't think our situation is as drastic as the events in 1984.
I think the story is very interesting and contains a lot of dramatic potential, especially in the immersive form we are performing in. As we are conveying a whole world it is important that the audience are transported their fully and this style will allow us to do that. I also think it will be an interesting experience for all actors. When acting on stage, though your aim is to live in the moment, this style will bring that idea to life even more and we will be able to engage and interact even more.

The multimedia aspect of the performance both excites me and frightens me. I have never done a performance using the amount of multimedia that we are aiming to use. I predict that my main problem will be taking the ideas I have on paper and putting them into action. However the fact that we are working in groups means that I have support from people that know more about technology than I do. We are able to bounce of each other and all contribute ideas to the performance.

I am happy with the room I have been given. It has a lot of space that can be used for many different things, to create different moods and scenes for the audience to experience. As we have been given a space with three rooms in one, we can have different scenes flowing into each other, creating a more interactive environment for both the audience and the actors. I hope to be able to make my scene memorable and interesting allowing the audience to take away something from the scenes I have created and perhaps carry them on to other rooms.