You know an audience is captivated by and fully engulfed in a performance when an audible gasp or the sound of air being sucked out of the room is heard every time a character is subjected to a round of torture. And that was certainly the case at last night's performance of the excellent 1984 at Williamston Theatre whenever Winston Smith (played with horrifying accuracy by actor David Wolber) is given an electric shock to teach him the error of his ways - especially throughout the second act's climactic moments.
Wolber's is but one of several spot-on perfect performances in director Tony Caselli's dark, scary and thought-provoking production of George Orwell's famous 1949 novel that's received a lot of attention in recent months thanks to one of the most contentious presidential elections of my lifetime. And while Michael Gene Sullivan's adaptation captures the book's high points quite well (from what I can remember; I last read the book about 40 years ago), what I watched most closely and was most fascinated by were the facial expressions and body language expressed by each of the characters throughout the performance.
Why? Because Caselli, who's received 13 Wilde Award nominations for his past directorial efforts and earned five wins, is among the elite handful of directors I've observed over the years who digs deeply into his scripts with a fine eye towards discovering the subtleties and nuances planted in the script by the playwright. And then he works closely with his actors to use what he's found to add to the complexities of their performances.
And that's certainly what happened with 1984, as it's not always what's said that matters, but rather what's occurring in the minds of the various characters. That's especially true of the show's final moments. Are some of the party members beginning to see through the lies they've been told by Big Brother? Have the seeds of doubt been planted for a future revolution?
Catch one of the show's final performances this weekend and look closely at the faces of the Party Members. And notice their body language: Has anyone's changed since the show's first act?
And see if you agree that John Lepard - one of the community's nicest guys, in my opinion - isn't one scary dude in this show!
The Bottom Line: Dramas have become few and far between in recent years (although the trend has been changing a bit recently), but if you like challenging work that makes you think about the issues being addressed long after the curtain comes down, I strongly suggest you check out this production.
1984 closes April 23. Production details can be found here.
PS: To help drive an earlier point home, it should be noted that Caselli is currently the #1 recipient of Wilde Awards in the state, with a total of seven. Yeah, he's that good!
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