The aftermath of 1984

After seeing 1984, the themes have really been running round my head. Do we bury our heads in the sand when it comes to the media? How much do we ignore the government's hand in hand relationship with the media? Why on earth are we letting government's pass agendas like TTIP, giving multinational corporations the power to sue our country and leaving the NHS further open to privatisation threats?

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For me, one of the trippiest ideas that came out of 1984 was the idea that (*deep breath*) censorship was overthrown by the government to lull ourselves into thinking that we have free speech when actually the opposite is true. 

Woah. Bit paranoid isn't that? 

Governments don't still torture people, do they?

Armies in Iraq: LOL, no, course not

The media can't print its own agenda under the guise of free speech, can it?

Daily Mail: LOL, no, what are we - gay? God forbid that - am I right Jan Moir?

The government doesn't censor anything unless it's harming though, does it?

DC (and the lads): LOL, as if we would! We've blocked 20% of the most 100,000 viewed sites to HELP you parent your children.

Gee, thanks, I was having a real hard time indoctrinating them myself, there's only so many bedtime stories you can get out of The Mail Online. (For my money, my favourite bedtime story would be "Woman goes to gym" dailym.ai/1wtQpR2 < I'm still waiting for part 2)

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While I'm glad that there is theatre which blends big, modern questions with entertaining and engaging storytelling, something about the performance left me thinking that maybe it's not always the best thing for an audience. Yeah, I felt that way after it, but did everybody else get that? Because surely Orwell wanted his message heard and discussed.

If you confront somebody with a truth, particularly one they don't really want to hear, then they will always look for a way out. Out of the people who see the performance each night, how many leave talking about the issues it raises? More likely, how many people see 1984 and go out discussing Orwell and his merits - or the wonders of multimedia in theatre?

In a theatre like York, which takes a lot of touring theatre, where are the difficult questions coming from? Repeated productions of Shakespeare and Ibsen? Who is feeding the collective theatregoers of York's ability to be questioned by theatre? Or to have society probed? Maybe we only enjoy looking at things once everyone's agreed they're right. 

Oh yes, I see the merits of allowing theatre to produce what it wants without being controlled by a central authority. Bravo censorship-challenging 60's plays!

Spoiler: the government still doesn't. If you don't control it, don't feed it #artscuts

As a final note, there is provoking theatre going on. The reaction to Little Revolutions at the Almeida has been mixed but it has sparked discussion at least. Privacy at Donmar did the same. 

Which is great for London. 

But I'm studying in York. 

And I want some pressing, shit-my-pants theatre, dammit.