Interview about 1984

We interviewed the director Mark Down about 1984!


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Why did you choose to adapt 1984?

We wanted to do something political. We wanted to work with a story and to make a piece that was story driven. Low Life was driven by the desire to explore to the maximum what the puppets could do. We wanted to do something on a bigger scale to reach a bigger audience.

How relevant do you think the book is today?

Never more than today perhaps. Not just the surveillance culture of cctv, the techno-revolution of the internet, “Big Brother” on TV but also because our country is torturing people in our name, we are at war in at least two countries but live in England as if we are at peace.

But the main message of the book is perhaps that “The Truth” is always in danger and that is timeless. It is in danger because we are too lazy or too frightened or too self involved to fight for it or even to care about it. This book says is that without truth there is no love. And without love there is no life.

How do you want the audience to feel after seeing the show?

Galvanised. Alive. Alarmed.

Why did you choose this specific style of theatre (i.e. visual/physical theatre / Agit prop)?

George Orwell's ambition with 1984 was to write something that combined art and politics. We wanted a form of theatre that did the same thing and Agit Prop was the obvious choice. We also felt that it was possibly a style of theatre that they might have in Oceania in 1984.


How are the puppets used?

Only a few characters in the play are played by puppets – Charrington the shop keeper and Goldstein the Party Enemy Number One. These came about organically. Charrington is a nice little old man who runs a Junk Shop and it just seemed fun.

The main puppet metaphor in the novel is perhaps the language – Newspeak – which is being manipulated to control people's thoughts. In Agit Prop theatre there is a tradition of holding up signs and pictures to help make messages clear – using this we are literally able to make language a puppet.


Has anything/anyone influenced you whilst making 1984?

Mainly we have indulged deeply in George Orwell. His biography, his other novels and essays. Particularly one called “Such Such Were The Joys” and “Down and Out in Paris and London”. We read Brecht – Caucasian Chalk Circle a few times to look at the story telling structure.
Perhaps the biggest influence though is the other people who we are working with. Simon and Giulia and Josie who are in the cast have been working with us on and off all year. And the cast and creative team are revealing so many things to us in rehearsals.


What challenges have you come across whilst making the show?

The main challenge has been adapting the script. When you change a novel into a playscript you lose the author's voice, and the characters in the story, have to tell in the story. In the case of 1984 Orwell is a very powerful story teller, and a great deal of the drama in the book takes place in the lonely head of the main character Winston Smith. We have tried to distill what we thought that main drama is and create relationships that would allow the story to unfold naturally. That is why we came up with the idea of a cast of agit prop players making him act out his story.


What would be your Room 101?

Reruns of Big Brother!