Tag Archives: 1984

Music: Alex Baranowski Choreographer: Jonathan Watkins Reviewer: Sheila Stratford George Orwell’s classic novel 1984 has been skillfully adapted by choreographer Jonathan Watkins for Northern Ballet. Set to an original score by Tony-nominated composer and arranger Alex Baranowski, it is performed by the Northern Ballet Sinfonia. In 1984, political party doctrine demands total conformity. Big Brother’s centralised and constant surveillance is ...

Choreographer: Jonathan Watkins Reviewer: Hannah Hiett Northern Ballet are storytellers on another level. Alongside the classics of ballet repertoire (The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake ) Northern Stage are doing something special. They are bringing the best of English literature to life on-stage, with classic masterpieces including Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre featured in the current season, alongside their ...

Music: Alex Baranowski Choreographer and director: Jonathan Watkins Reviewer: Laura Jayne Bateman It is over sixty years since 1984, George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel, was first published in 1949. In that time, the story has lost none of its relevance and has lent itself to numerous adaptations. Indeed, Headlong’s acclaimed stage version is currently making its way around the country, ...

Writer: George Orwell Adaptersand Directors: Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan Reviewer: Claire Hayes Headlong’s adaptation of George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 has enjoyed three West End runs and two tours prior to its arrival in Bath. So, those of us who’ve already read the book and perused the four and five-star reviews of the play may feel as though they ...

By Rich Jevons Before the creative team behind Northern Ballet’s 1984 gave a day-long exposition of the thinking behind their modern masterpiece based on George Orwell’s dystopian novel, we are asked to consider what we would put in Room 101. Quite flippantly, I think of celery and the complete works of Xenakis on a loop. But more seriously, we think ...

Writer: George Orwell Adapters and directors: Robert Icke and Duncan MacMillan Reviewer: Dave Smith It’s now more than 65 years since George Orwell wrote his vision of a dystopian future of a society where the state is able to constantly monitor and control its citizens in the name of national security, and more than 30 years have passed since the ...

Writer: Aldous Huxley Adaptor: Dawn King Director: James Dacre Reviewer: Natasha Hegarty Set in a dystopian future where embryos are factory farmed and their futures built on science, Brave New World is a force of a play. Based on the 1931 novel by Aldous Huxley, it opens with a lecture with the head of the organisation talking the audience through ...

Choreographer: Jonathan Watkins Composer: Alex Baranowski Set &Costume Designer: Simon Daw Lighting Designer: Chris Davey Video Designer: Andrzej Goulding Dramaturg: Ruth Little Reviewer: Peter Gray Northern Ballet’s World Premiere of 1984 is an impressive reimagined interpretation of the Orwellian classic, published in 1949. Guest choreographer, Jonathan Watkins, succeeds in exploring the novel’s powerful ideas through an innovative, eclectic mix of ...