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1984

Reviewed by Terry Morgan
Headlong /Broad Stage
Through February 6

Another day, another show brought to us from across the pond or the continent, borne upon the wings of great reviews. It’s distressingly common, unfortunately, for L.A. producers to import a play that has garnered plaudits in New York or London only for local audiences to discover how bewilderingly wrong those critics were. The new adaptation of George Orwell’s1984 by the Headlong theatre company has a few moments of creative direction, but overall it’s a turgid, baffling disappointment.

The story’s mostly unchanged: Winston (Matthew Spencer) lives in a conformist Britain called Oceania, where the Big Brother government watches every action and thought of its citizens. He secretly longs for freedom, and falls for Julia (Hara Yannas), the two thinking they can rebel against the state. But they get caught, and there are rats and boots stamping on human faces and … blackout. However, in this version, Winston’s in a library book club reading 1984, and flipping in and out of the story for no particular reason.

Spencer’s twitching, drooling Winston is so obviously a basket case from moment one of this production that Julia’s attraction to and relationship with him seems unconvincing, which undercuts the audience’s crucial identification with the couple. Yannas is fine as Julia, and deserves a better showcase. Tim Dutton is strong as the confidently evil O’Brien, and Simon Coates is memorable as Parsons, who’s absurdly proud of his informer daughter.

Director/adaptors Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan have a couple of effective bits — blackouts that lift to reveal actors suddenly onstage, and blinding the audience with strobe lights to effect transitions — that would be better if they weren’t used quite so many times. A rapid pulling apart of one set to reveal another is a coup de theatre, but it’s a gem buried amidst dross. As to the adaptation, it seems the writers felt a modern audience was tired of the old 1984 and that it needed some punching up. Unfortunately, what they came up with just detracts from the main story, replacing the original with something blander, just as Newspeak replaces the vitality and free thought of language in Oceania.

The Broad Stage, 1310 11th St., Santa Monica; Tues.-Sat. 7:30 p.m.; Sat.-Sun. 2 p.m.; through Feb. 6. (310) 434-3200, thebroadstage.com. Running time: 1 hour, 40 min.