REDCAT: Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (Los Angeles, CA)
The Actors' Gang presents 1984, an adaptation of the classic George Orwell novel. Orwell's vision of government manipulation and surveillance seems startlingly prescient in the modern world. Actor Tim Robbins (Mystic River, The Shawshank Redemption) directs this production, which has toured internationally since its world premiere in 2006.
Event summary prepared by the Goldstar Editorial Team.
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The last event was Saturday July 5, 2008 / 3:00pm. (view all dates)
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I have seen few theatre productions as well done as this one. Very powerful, mesmerizing and thought provoking and in a beautiful modern theatre neighboring Disney Hall. Cannot recommend this show or this theatre highly enough.
Excellent...riveting and as disturbing a story as ever!
Powerful drama. Thought-provoking and relevant today.
This play was really fantastic. The entire cast did a fabulous job but Cameron Dye in the lead role gave an award-winning performance. If not for GoldStar, we would not have gone. Thank you, GS!!
I just found out my husband sent this. Ditto on the above. And, special kudos to Cameron.
The play was true to the text of the novel. I liked the production, but frankly was hoping for more directed irony as to what is going on with the current President and administration in power.
If you are interested in a serious and solid performance - 1984 is a play to see. This was by far the best production I have seen so far this summer.
Set was minimal, sound effects too loud, no reality in the communication between the protagonist and the girlfriend.
Well staged, some very good performances.
Great acting and directing !!!
Superb play in all respect....
Strong performances and great staging...and makes you think
Powerful and intense performance. Have recommended it to several people. Venue has a relaxing ambiance.
I liked the post show discussion by the actors.
WOW! This play was really amazing. The acting and stage direction were top notch. Such a great and fulfilling theater experience. I really enjoyed the Q and A with all of the actors after the play. GO SEE IT!
We thought 1984 was an excellent political commentary especially as it relates to what's going on with our current administration and all its failures. An added bonus was Robert Scheer leading a most interesting discussion.
Is it possible to start these plays at 7:30 or 8:00 p.m. instead of 8:30 particularly on a weekday evening?
Words can hardly describe how brilliant this play and its actors were. Bravo!!!
Interesting take on Orwell's futuristic novel. Somewhat tedious, but probably intentional to drive home the point re: torture and victimization. Excellent acting. The discussion with Robert Scheer and the actors was very interesting and helpful -- I didn't want the discussion to end.
I really enjoy this black box theater. The show that was in it, I can appreciate for the effort, not for my paying to see it. Again I felt hit on the head over and over again with the reiteration of themes and philosophies I agreed with before seeing The Actor's Gang's version of the play. There were several amusing uses of the limited space but by the end I was just tired of being yelled at. Stop yelling at your audiences! Your friends are out there!!
very good and thought provoking play. there was a discussion with the case afterward and I thought it was pretty basic for a complex play.
A must see! It was one of the better professional plays I have ever seen. The way each of the 4 party members fully commited to the various characters they portrayed, was truely amazing. The acting is superb. And Tim Robbins did a fine job as Director. Props to him!
Such an amazing performance...everyone should see this play. It can help understand what it's happening in the world, not just in America.
Michael Gene Sullivan's adaption of the Orwell novel could not be better; he captured the radical evil exemplified by the Big Brother mentality. Where groups like al-Qaeda seek to enforce such totalitarian mind-control, the play is very topical. Despite our initial empathy with the victim, Winston, his willingness to do anything necessary to overthrow the government, including willing killing of hundreds of people, shows how a totalitarian government destroys all sense of individual morality and public interest.
The Actors' Gang performance is gifted theater; each of the actors, especially Cameron Dye and Keythe Farley, make their frightening characters real and audience-intimate. The staging and use of the actors (who take on different roles) never made the different layers of the action confusing, and Justin Zsebe's interpretation of the younger Winston created real energy with Kaiili Hollister, who played Julia and other female roles.
I found this one of the most moving and powerful theatrical experiences this year and was glad to have the opportunity to see a justly-famed production.
The Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT) is located in downtown L.A. as a separate entity within the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex. REDCAT is a lively, youthful and adventurous addition to the burgeoning cultural corridor in downtown. Before or after the show, relax in the REDCAT Lounge, where you can surround yourself in signature Frank Gehry plywood and enjoy a cocktail from the full-... More
The Actors' Gang's critically acclaimed production of George Orwell's 1984 returns to Los Angeles as part of an extensive national and international tour that has traveled to cities across the U.S. and to Hong Kong, Melbourne and Athens. Academy Award-winning actor-writer-director Tim Robbins, co-founder and artistic director of The Gang, directs Michael Gene Sullivan's stage adaptation at the Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater (REDCAT).
1984 tells of a world where people fear that their opinions cannot be expressed freely, where citizens are monitored at the government's discretion, where leaders are not held accountable for their deceptions and where perpetual war is waged against an unseen enemy: a world where Ignorance is Strength, Freedom is Slavery, and War is Peace. This is the world Orwell created more than half a century ago, and its prescience of today's world is startling.
"When I read Michael's adaptation, I thought he was making this stuff up," said Robbins. "When I went back and reread the book, I was stunned. I think we're left with the impression, if we haven't read it in, say, 20 years, about Big Brother watching you - a gray world where the government can see into every apartment. What you don't remember are the specifics: what Doublethink is, what [the book's arch nemesis] Emanuel Goldstein's theories are about why war is necessary, and how the ruling class uses the fear of war to propagate its hold on power. It's all so relevant today."
When 1984 premiered at The Actors' Gang in 2006, the Los Angeles Times called the production "first rate," and the LA Weekly said, "GO…a swift and effective retelling. Under Tim Robbins' direction the action never slows." The Los Angeles Daily News wrote, "This is not your father's George Orwell… As is the case with the majority of productions that come out of the Gang, this means difficult, topical and insightful material that sacrifices none of its theatricality to make a point."
The Actors' Gang, now in its 25th season of rule-breaking, thought-provoking, engaging theater, is one of Los Angeles' most enduring ensembles. Since its founding in 1982, The Gang has consistently won acclaim for its daring interpretations of Shakespeare, Buchner, Brecht, Moliere, Aeschylus, Ibsen and Chekhov, while also developing daring new plays that address today's world through a prism of satire, popular culture, and raucous stagecraft. "Of the theater companies in Los Angeles that doggedly dare to dissect current political conflicts, The Actors' Gang, headed by Oscar-winning actor Tim Robbins, is the most prominent," wrote The Daily Breeze.
Tim Robbins received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2003 for his role in Mystic River. A few of his other film credits include: The Shawshank Redemption, The Player, Bull Durham, Bob Roberts, The Hudsucker Proxy, Short Cuts and Five Corners. He wrote, directed and produced the award-winining films Dead Man Walking and Cradle Will Rock. As a playwright, he has written seven plays including, most recently, Embedded, which played engagements at The Actors' Gang in Los Angeles, The Public Theater in New York, The Riverside Studios in London, and toured nationally throughout the United States.
Michael Gene Sullivan (adaptation) is resident playwright for the Tony Award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe. His directing credits include shows at SFMT, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Mystic Bison Theatre and others.
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