1984 by SRT The Young Company

“The Place where there is No Darkness”

Reviewer: Liana Gurung
Performance: 22 August 2019

Performed by the Singapore Repertory Theatre’s The Young Company as part of its graduation showcase, 1984 is a demanding and ambitious piece that showcases the rigorous training and range of its cast. Much like the novel, the play swings from poles: spanning horror to humour, love to hatred.

At its heart is Winston Smith (Marwyn Ho), the protagonist and thought-criminal brought to mise-en-scène trial before Big Brother. In contrast to the starched, dark jumpsuits of the other Citizens, Winston is dressed in baggy white, with his hair shorn off, despondent. At the point where the play begins, he has been separated from his lover and co-conspirator, Julia. His confession unspools with his found diary as basis; two of the Citizens act it out, telling the story of how Winston and Julia met, and fell in love.

The costuming is sophisticated: each cast member is pin-neat with slicked hair and standard-issue combat boots. The set is just as thoughtful. The focal point of the stage is the screen at the back. The modular set pieces, sliding in and out to bring the audience from room to room, preserve a cutout for the pinhole of Big Brother’s eye to peer through. That said, some of these design elements end up not working so well in practice. For instance, the screen is often blocked by the cast, who periodically huddle in front it as they mouth Big Brother’s creed, eyes fixated on the apparent image that some of the audience is thus unable to see.

Good ideas are also sometimes not executed to their largest extent, as in the garbled pre-performance message that fails to conjure Orwellian sentiment over the lo-fi crackle of too much static.

But the cast shines as an ensemble. Monologues can be slightly stilted and emotionally effusive declarations. Antagonists can sometimes come across as thuggish and flatly menacing. But in moments where they play off and build upon each other, the cast is a well-oiled combination of moving parts – their chemistry is charming and much-needed in a production as heavy as 1984. The audience unhitches a breath as M. Shankari’s Mr. Parsons and Amalia Thoumire’s Syme exchange comedic barbs with a more innocent Winston. We sigh as Shaik Nazray and Tiara Yap fall for each other as faux Winston and Julia, all the while tamping down the creeping dread of Winston’s reality and future as he watches from the stage foreground. As an ensemble, the cast is a crystallization of manic, frenetic energy, chilling as they stare into the middle distance, looking at an unseen Big Brother tucked within the audience.

As the cast take their last bows as part of The Young Company, I look forward to seeing them in productions elsewhere – bringing with them their dedication, sense of timing, and a little bit of that 1984 fanaticism.