A Powerful and Immersive Production
While they wait for the major refurbishment of the Abbey Buildings (and of course the Unicorn Theatre), Abingdon Drama Club's first non-Unicorn show was 1984. They elected to stage it in All Saints' Church, Sutton Courtenay. The churchyard is also the final resting place of Eric Arthur Blair (George Orwell).
As we queued for ten minutes in the cold and dark outside the church on a (thankfully dry) Friday, we had no idea that our experience had already begun.
Inside the church, ADC's normally affable Front of House team was distant and dictatorial. We were already in Orwell's dystopian Airstrip One, a province of Oceania.
Director Alex Jenkins had created a detailed environment for her show, which enveloped the audience at every point. The setting, against the chancel arch, was bleak, industrial and brutalist. The mood was further enhanced by the dramatic lighting and the disturbing soundscape.
The cast all inhabited their roles with confidence and energy. In particular, Chris Bedford as Winston Smith and Art Blake as O'Brien gave tour de force performances, especially during the harrowing and extended torture scenes.
Nick Hern's dramatisation was effective. It was a bit lengthy, perhaps. In a way, though, that added to the experience as we enveloped ourselves in the heartless, post-apocalyptic world which inhabited the church that evening.
The play made the most of ADC's acting and technical skills to create a show which played to well-justified packed houses. Everyone involved in this show deserves a huge well done.
It wasn't a play I could say I'd 'enjoyed' per se, but the acting, costumes, lighting, video imagery, sound and music combined to produce a very entertaining and engaging piece of theatre, very skilfully staged by Abingdon Drama Club.
Stephen Briggs
