An acclaimed UK stage adaptation of 1984, George Orwell’s chilling 1949 novel about a war-ravaged world ruled by Big Brother and the unwitting rebel Winston Smith, will follow the limited run this spring of Sunday In The Park With George at Broadway’s newest house, the Ambassador Theatre Group’s Hudson Theatre. Producers Sonia Friedman (Harry Potter And The Cursed Child) and Scott Rudin (The Humans, the upcoming A Doll’s House, Part 2) will present the show, created by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan and originally presented by Headlong, Nottingham Playhouse and the Almeida Theatre, London, beginning June 22.
The creative team includes sets and costumes by Chloe lamford, lighting by Natasha Chivers, sound by Tom Gibbons and video by Tim Reid. Casting has not been set.
The timing couldn’t be better: The novel, which has been adapted for film, TV and stage over the years, currently is the top title on Amazon’s bestseller list. This production had four successful U.K. runs and an international tour that included the Broad Stage in Santa Monica last year. Los Angeles Times drama critic wrote that “the harrowing story of Winston Smith, a would-be rebel toiling as a clerk at the Ministry of Truth, is born anew with startling force.” Despite a few reservations, McNulty concluded that “[T]he agitated theatrical imagination of this British import brings the tale shockingly to life onstage.”
Sunday In The Park With George, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford, runs February 11 through April 23. The Stephen Sondheim/James Lapine musical begins in 1884 and ends a century later.
