Theatre review: 1984

Duration: 85 minutes
Director: Debesh Chattopadhyay
Cast: Ujjal Malakar, Sanjoy Dey, Shubhannita Guha
Star: ***1/2

Big Brother is watching you. Wherever you go, whatever you do, whoever you sleep with and whichever meat you store in your refrigerator — Big Brother (BB) loves to keep track. And by now, most of us are quite accustomed to his surveillance. We eat, sleep and think the way BB wants us to do. And with a bit of yoga and a dietary regime with rationed meat intake — we are slowly and steadily getting used to the life that BB has handcrafted for us. But sadly there are a few like Mohammed Akhlaq, Junaid Khan or Gautam Islam (Ujjal Malakar) who don’t see BB’s achchhe din. And they pay the price. While the thought police deployed by BB fixed Akhlaq, who kept some meat in store, and

Junaid

— just for being Junaid Khan — the big man BB (Sanjoy Dey) took care of Gautam personally in room number 101.
The biggest problem for Gautam is that he thinks independently, and what’s more, he questions. He fears that the past will soon be eradicated from the system called State. He works in the State’s Records Department. His job is to ‘unperson’ individuals who fail BB. He manufactures truth. As he deletes the details of Gilani, Afzal and Shoukat, he shudders and doubts. He starts to pen down his doubts so that the next generation can have a reference point to deal with it. Obviously, his audacious action cannot let him go far. Moreover, he falls in love with Lopamudra Tiwari (Shubhannita Guha) and they start to believe that the state can be overturned by the power of love, kisses and orgasms. The state doesn’t take much time to identify him as a thought criminal and he is soon prosecuted.
In Debesh Chattopadhyay’s 1984, Goerge Orwell’s eponymous novel meets Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta. From Guy Fawkes masks to omnipresent governments — the play highlights tyranny. In the great garage where BB lobotomises thought criminals, the mantra remains simple — war is peace, freedom is slavery. The director swiftly contemporises it with the reference of a 70-year-old diary (the age of India’s independence) whose pages are yet to pale. By the end of it, the play becomes an unsettling saga of the state that we are slowly getting used to. In the end, power wins.
Besides the hard-hitting content, 1984 also showcases some stellar performances. Promising actor Ujjal Malakar is outstanding as the freethinker, Goutam Islam. Shubhannita Guha too is heart-melting in her portrayal of Lopamudra Tiwari. Sanjoy Dey’s portrayal of BB is sure to send chills down your spine. Along with the main characters, the performances of the smaller characters too make the play a treat to watch. But is it not just the acting department — 1984 becomes a complete production because of the light design by Dinesh Poddar and the sets by Sanchayan Ghosh. The stage is magically created with the help of lights and other arrangements. Coupled with a fantastic background score by Shreyan Chattopadhyay, which adds to the eeriness of state torture, the play becomes very intense.
1984 is not a happy play. It is dark and rather unsettling. This is not only because it shows some symbolic torture, but also because it almost makes you believe that there is little hope left. It is a must-watch, because in its entirety, the play compels you to think.