Aquila Theatre presents George Orwell’s ‘1984’ live at Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre on Oct. 10
From a press release:
In the throes of unprecedented challenges to privacy, truth, and personal expression, the Aquila Theatre Company brings George Orwell’s cautionary novel “1984” to the stage of the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m.
Tickets are on sale now and available at the Sundance Vacations Box Office at the Kirby Center (71 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre), online at kirbycenter.org, and by phone at 570-826-1100. All seats are just $10, plus applicable fees, thanks to underwriting from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
As our modern world grapples with the threats and benefits of technological integration, Aquila Theatre’s production of “1984” provides a space to appreciate the value of individual thought – an evocative and timely narrative of personal freedom against political repression. Today, Orwell’s prescient story resonates around the globe as individuals, systems, and governments clash.
Written in 1944 near the end of World War II, “1984” depicts a society controlled by a perfectly totalitarian government bent on repressing all subversive tendencies. “Big Brother” is always watching, and technology is wielded as a weapon to inundate citizens with propaganda and to monitor thoughts and actions. Imagined before the existence of household computers, this dystopian future explores the power of technology as a mental manipulator and source of curated information.
The resurgence of “1984” marks a widespread desire to understand the present moment by looking back… as a means to look forward. How far are we from realizing Orwell’s nightmare? Are we already there? Can there be more than one truth, more than one set of facts?
“1984” is a classic by one of literature’s most significant authors and provides the kind of evocative and innovative storytelling that suits Aquila’s bold, ensemble-driven, physical style.
Aquila Theatre’s mission is to make classical works accessible to the greatest number. A play becomes “classical” because we recognize that, after a time, it transcends the original culture it was created for. It retains the power to provoke the central question of what it means to be human. As a company dedicated to the classics, they feel a responsibility to acknowledge and explore newfound classical works. Aquila was founded in London in 1991 by Peter Meineck.
Aquila is the foremost producer of touring classical theatre in the United States, visiting 50-60 American cities per year. Aquila is currently touring “Hamlet” and “Sense & Sensibility” (2017/2018). Most recent past touring seasons include “Much Ado About Nothing” and “Murder on the Nile,” as well as “The Trojan War: Our Warrior Chorus” (2016/2017); “Romeo and Juliet,” and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” (2015/2016); “The Tempest,” and Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights” (2014/2015); “Twelfth Night” and Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” (2013/2014); “Taming of the Shrew” and Edmond Rostand’s “Cyrano de Bergerac” (2012/2013); “Macbeth” and Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest” (2011/2012); “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and Luigi Pirandello’s “Six Characters in Search of an Author” (2010/2011); and “As You Like It” and Henrik Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People” (2009/2010).
