1984 Immersive at Hackney Town Hall: A Thrilling Look into Orwell’s Vision

It is the Age of Total Surveillance.

Everything you say or do is scrutinised.
Even your innermost thoughts are probed.
You cannot be too careful.

There have been several stage productions of George Orwell’s classic 1984, including a very successful production by Headlong that played in the West End, and a current touring version starring Keith Allen. 1984 Immersive Play at Hackney Town Hall is the latest of these productions.

It is amazing to think that a novel written in 1949 was able to predict how we would be as a society with surveillance. Most attempts to predict the future end up being way off—for example, at one time it was thought we would have no computers in our homes!

This is a different take on the story and sets itself out to plunge you in the world of 1984. Are you going to join the Ministry of Truth?

One of the greatest assets is the most beautiful and awe-inspiring building—Hackney Town Hall. A building that I found somewhat triggering because, about 15 years ago, I used to conduct management training in the basement!

We don’t go downstairs, but we do get to see two locations in this wonderful building. They make good use of a lift in what I suspect is now a function hall, and we actually go into the council chambers for part of it. We get our armbands and stand up when the national anthem is played, for example.

This is all great fun, but if I’m being picky, the story wasn’t absolutely clear—and it doesn’t seem to have a distinct point of view. It’s quite short, at 75 minutes, so that does mean you don’t get bored!

As to the immersive experience: yes, we go into the town hall, yes, we all stand up for certain things, and at a particular key point that I won’t spoil, one “lucky” person—slightly like the person in Witness for the Prosecution—gets to stand up and perform an act right at the very end.

I shudder when I hear the words ‘audience participation,’ but it is voluntary here. So, if you’re a coward like me, you do not have to join in!

In the second part of the play, we go back into the room where we started and watch what is effectively a studio version of the play acted out for us. It is done really well, and interestingly, I saw two understudies—Mark Kitto and Michael James—who were brilliant. Had I not been told by the press agent, I would not have known they were understudies.

This is its second run at Hackney Town Hall, and looking at some videos of the initial run, I wonder if this time they haven’t been given access to as many rooms.

If you are familiar with 1984 and would like to try what I would call an entry-level immersive play, you will have a good time. From my perspective, it is a bit shaky on narrative and wasn’t as immersive as I was hoping it would be.

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