 Over the past few years, especially in the era of Donald Trump, comparisons with George Orwell’s 1984 have become increasingly frequent that so much so the the reference risks becoming a cliché. Once a chilling vision of totalitarian control, the phrase “it’s like 1984” now often gets thrown around in political discourse daily. However, this bold adaptation introduced me to a fresh perspective on Orwell’s classic.
1984, originally published in 1949, tells the story of Winston Smith, a man trapped in a dystopian state where independent thought is criminalised and “Big Brother” watches every move. But what if the story didn’t end with Winston’s betrayal and brainwashing? What if we shifted the lens to Julia, the woman he loved and ultimately turned against? Unknown to me before seeing the play, there is in fact a novel titled Julia, written by Sandra Newman and published in 2023. It reimagines 1984 from Julia’s point of view, offering insight into a character who, in Orwell’s original, was largely viewed through Winston’s dismissive and often objectifying gaze. Newman’s Julia gives her a voice, a history, and an interior life and one that this adaptation brings to life on stage. This version follows Julia after her time in the Ministry of Love, where she has endured unspeakable torture. Now released, she’s reunited with her sister, and while their reunion is tender, it’s also tense: a telescreen with a blink eye looms over them throughout the show, and speech itself has become dangerous. But Julia is not broken. She’s driven by the need to uncover who betrayed her and Winston to the Thought Police a year prior. Her search leads her back to O’Brien, her former torturer, and into a psychological battle that’s as chilling as anything Orwell imagined. The dynamic between O’Brien (Michael Tcherepashenets) and Julia (Sofia Barysevich) is one of the production’s most compelling and unsettling elements. O’Brien appears in a blazer made up of bold, block colours and something you might expect on a children’s TV presenter, if that presenter had wandered into a nightmare. His white face paint, punctuated by eerie red circles on his cheeks, gives him the air of a deranged clown. He feels like a character plucked from the darker corners of the Batman universe as a warped, Joker-esque figure whose unpredictability keeps both Julia and the audience on edge. The physicality between O’Brien and Julia is impressive. Their scenes are laced with tension and discomfort, often veering into aggressively choreographed movement that blurs the line between intimacy and threat. These moments speak volumes about the power dynamics at play and the lingering trauma of Julia’s torture and the cruel control O’Brien still exerts over her, even in supposed freedom. A bleak throughline runs beneath the entire play: in this world, there are no winners. Surveillance is constant, trust is non-existent, and any flicker of kindness is punished with betrayal or worse. The script offers no illusions of safety or redemption, only the grim reality of a society where love and even small acts of kindness are weaponised. Much like our own world, Julia 1984 offers a chilling reminder: loyalty to oppressive systems will not protect you. It should be a wake-up call to those who remain blindly loyal to power. Tearing down your fellow humans and minorities in particular will never earn you safety, but only ensure that you’re next. Lee Hutchison Julia 1984 Venue: Summerhall Dates: August 2nd to 11th Time: 1635 Tickets: www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/julia-1984 |
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