Presented by Within Theatre
Writer: Karina Wiedman
Director: Tanya Polosina
Movement Director: Sasha Plaige
Reviewer: Lela Tredwell
LUSTRAM AWARD WINNERS AND EXCELLENCE AWARD NOMINEES AT BRIGHTON FRINGE 2024
Fall in terrifying love with Big Brother all over again with this invigorating production that sets out to answer one of speculative literature’s most burning questions – what happened to Julia? Seamlessly picking up where George Orwell’s novel left off, Julia After 1984 is a greatly affecting piece of theatre which revives and renews the classic dystopia for our times.
Created by the Slavic-led collective Within Theatre, the cast are no strangers to the themes raised by 1984 of state control and limited personal freedom. With this production, they pack a powerful punch in the name of liberation of speech and artistic expression. Their words at the end of the play are genuinely heartbreaking, made all the more real by what we have just experienced in their skilful hands.
Within the walls of the Ministry of Love, we join Winston Smith’s gloriously rebellious amour, Julia (Sofia Barysevich) as she is being tortured. Room 101 promises to unite traitors with their very worst fears. For Winston (Faiaz Valiullin) that was rats. Much speculation has gone into what would be awaiting Julia in her Room 101 so to see her placed centre stage during this production enables an audience to understand the answer to this question and tumble head over heels for her brave spirit once again.
Julia has been betrayed and the evidence suggests it was by her own sister, Emma (Anastasia Velique). Seeking vengeance, Julia returns to the Ministry of Love and to Thought Police Officer O’Brien (Michael Tcherepashenets). With exceptionally powerful performances from Sofia Barysevich as the defiant Julia and Michael Tcherepashenets as her tormentor O’Brien, the realities of attempting to claim some power in an authoritarian state are brought to life.
Combining mesmerising physical theatre, multimedia and visceral storytelling, this is a performance that envelops its audience. The Rotunda Theatre Bubble turns out to be a highly effective choice of venue for this production. As the wind whips at the ominously dark tent, the effect is sublimely unsetting. The retired-circus vibe sets a suitably eerie backdrop to the distorted stage, and the barking of unseen dogs outside evoke images of check points and police patrols.
The set itself is striking with a lit triangle on the black floor and the mirroring of a projected Big Brother eye on the back wall. There is no escaping the watch of Big Brother as a table and chairs to the side of the stage demonstrates. The seemingly basic set up, complete with way too many plastic plates – all empty – gives us Emma’s monitored apartment. Julia’s sister, played arrestingly by Anastasia Velique, is visually sweating there as she awaits her fate and the awkward meal the sisters share, reminiscent of a child’s tea party, is truly chilling.
Painted with clown make up that smears and distorts with perspiration during the show, coupled with costumes made up of mismatched primary colours, the visual effect of the performance is off-centring but also devilishly satisfying. The space is well-used and the forth wall blurs so the audience are drawn into the world. Scenes of fierce physical theatre evoke feminist dystopias like The Handmaid’s Tale and The Power, while the sense of timeless oppression is all around us.
This bold production of the intelligently written play by Karina Wiedman is both deeply moving and vital. Faiaz Vailullin’s understated portrayal of Winston is truly heart-wrenching as it contrasts with the passion and commitment to a cause of both Julia and O’Brien. The exhausted, broken Winston is as much us as the rebellious Julia, the desperate Emma and the tortured O’Brien. We are shown how the party becomes the power, how the rise of fake news, gaslighting, constant surveillance, intrusive technology, and the carousel of corrupt faces seeking ultimate control succeed, and why resistance is a dangerous, essential, but ultimately complicated issue. This is a play for the people, for all people, and a debilitating thorn in the side of The Party and all those who seek its power. It is a reminder that 1984 truly is one of the greatest speculative fiction predictions, that a re-centring of perspective can give us a fresh new take on the world, and how Big Brother is watching us, still.
Reviewed on the 25th May
