Cal High’s drama program traded in laughs for something much darker with their final performance of the year.
Making a total departure from last year’s upbeat children’s musical, “SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical,” the drama department performed a chilling production of George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel, “1984,” from April 22-24.
The story of “1984” depicts a future where a single and all-powerful government is led by a mysterious Big Brother, who controls every aspect of life. In the fictitious nation of Oceania, there is no privacy, and even having an incorrect thought is considered a crime that can lead to one’s death.
The story follows Winston Smith, a low-ranking party member who works at the Ministry of Truth. Winston’s job is to rewrite history books to match whatever the government says is true today, even if it contradicts what actually happened the day before.
“I like that it’s a 90-minute version [of the book] and it’s cleaner, especially for high schoolers,” drama teacher Laura Woods said. “It allows me to pull in an ensemble of proles and guards.”
The role of Winston Smith was expertly played by senior Andrea Rebiskie, who brought a great deal of depth and emotion to the role.
Woods shared that the cast focused heavily on Winston’s internal world and the constant rate of vigilance.
“Winston is always extremely worried and paranoid of being watched the entire play,” Woods said.
Rebiskie added how playing a character who is always paranoid and on edge is really challenging because you have to stay in character the whole time even if you’re not the one speaking because the pressure in Oceania never stops.
When Winston falls in love with his co-worker Julia, who was played by Liv Alvey, it ends up throwing the character for a loop. Much of the story involves the forbidden romance between Julia and Winston,
Aside from the dark themes, the actors’ strong chemistry on stage was on the play’s strengths.
“Being friends with the other cast members makes the hard scenes much easier to navigate,” Alvey said about Rebiskie. “We can trust each other which really helps focus on the story we’re trying to tell.”
Woods said the story was trying to showcase Winston and Julia’s love through the way they held themselves.
“We want the audience to feel a small spark of humanity in such a cold world,” Wood said before the play.
But the world of Oceania is made to destroy that spark.
Supporting the cast was a dedicated group of actors, including senior Camryn Ornelas, who plays Winston’s neighbor and co-worker Parsons, and Malakai Sokolova who plays Syme, a highly clever intellectual who also works at the Ministry of Truth.
Sokolova’s character symbolizes the dangers and risk of being too smart in a totalitarian state like the one depicted in “1984.”
“It’s definitely challenging to be Syme because I have to put a lot of energy into the character,” Sokolova said.
The set and lights were controlled by junior Brinda Bhattarai, who expertly handled the set and lighting so the audience could feel the tension and pressure of every word being recorded in Oceania. By having a pair of large, glowing, red eyes stationed above the set, it helped the audience feel as if they were being watched too.
“We want the lighting and sound to feel like another character,” Bhattarai said before the show.“The light flickering and the distorted announcements are meant to remind the audience that someone is always listening to every word.”
Every light flicker on stage made the audience feel the tension of those on stage experiencing life under the watchful eyes of Big Brother.
A big part of the play was the theme of paranoia, which was successfully depicted by the eerie lighting and external sounds mostly coming from behing the audience.
The audience also felt part of the oppressive world when party members marched through the audience during the show, and even during intermission, served as a reminder that somone is always watching.
