Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Why Broadway's '1984' Audiences Are Fainting, Vomiting and Getting Arrested
Hollywood Reporter ^ | June 25, 2017 | Ashley Lee

Posted on 06/25/2017 7:16:41 PM PDT by EdnaMode

Olivia Wilde, Tom Sturridge and Reed Birney star in the bold staging of George Orwell’s dystopian novel.

The play 1984 is not for the average theatergoer. Adapting George Orwell’s dystopian novel — set in a future when critical thought is suppressed by a totalitarian regime, ostensibly overseen by a party leader known as Big Brother — the new Broadway staging includes special effects like strobe lights and jackhammer sound effects, in addition to the plot’s extreme torture scenes.

Throughout the London transfer’s previews, attendees have fainted, thrown up and screamed at the actors from their seats. After one performance, some audience members were so on edge that they immediately got into a heightened argument. Cops were called; charges were pressed.

“I’m not surprised, since this experience is unique, bold and immersive,” Olivia Wilde, who broke her tailbone and dislocated her rib during previews, told The Hollywood Reporter after Thursday’s opening-night performance (during which one attendee passed out). “It allows you to empathize in a visceral way, and that means making the audience physically and emotionally uncomfortable.”

(Excerpt) Read more at hollywoodreporter.com ...


TOPICS: Arts/Photography; TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: 1984; barfbags; broadway; hollywood; orwell; theater; theatre; torture
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-33 next last
Sounds like a fun night at the theatre. :P
1 posted on 06/25/2017 7:16:41 PM PDT by EdnaMode
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: EdnaMode

I’m not going to a play or movie if I need a Valium beforehand.
Life is too short.


2 posted on 06/25/2017 7:20:39 PM PDT by GnuThere
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EdnaMode

A dose of Ipecac Syrup is about .50 cents at the pharmacy, much less than the price of a theatre ticket for a play that makes you barf.


3 posted on 06/25/2017 7:22:40 PM PDT by redcatcherb412
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EdnaMode

an extreme cognitive dissonance reaction experienced by those supposed well-meaning souls


4 posted on 06/25/2017 7:23:46 PM PDT by dontreadthis (I finally came up with this tagline)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EdnaMode
Do 1984 true to the book and you have a gruesome, brutal play. Remember Winston Smith in Room 101 with the rat cage, containing a live, viciously carnivorous rat, locked over his head and in his face, a horror added to the other unspeakable tortures the Ministry of Love previously subjected him to.
5 posted on 06/25/2017 7:31:05 PM PDT by libstripper
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EdnaMode

Maybe some on the left saw themselves being projected on the stage and realized how sick they were ....


6 posted on 06/25/2017 7:31:42 PM PDT by Popman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EdnaMode

Any different than people throwing up, fainting and running out of the theater when FRANKENSTEIN and THE EXORCIST was first shown?


7 posted on 06/25/2017 7:34:39 PM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Popman
Maybe some on the left saw themselves being projected on the stage and realized how sick they were ....

It is that. That's also why they hate Atlas Shrugged so much - Rand's dead-on depiction of the Socialist mentality in her villains is completely intolerable to them.

8 posted on 06/25/2017 7:37:27 PM PDT by Mr. Jeeves ([CTRL]-[GALT]-[DELETE])
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Jeeves
I never fail to be amazed with how Ayn Rand absolutely nails the socialist mindset in her books. She truly has their number.

By the way, Ayn Rand would have loved Donald Trump!

9 posted on 06/25/2017 7:40:45 PM PDT by SamAdams76
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: EdnaMode

I first became aware of Olivia Wilde when she was in the Tron remake. A truly beautiful woman. If she is a part of education people about propaganda with a “1984” play than I only like her more.


10 posted on 06/25/2017 7:52:03 PM PDT by WMarshal (President Trump, a president keeping his promises to the American people. It feels like winning.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Popman

Yeah could be.


11 posted on 06/25/2017 8:01:09 PM PDT by EdnaMode
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: WMarshal

Funny, she was born in 1984


12 posted on 06/25/2017 8:04:29 PM PDT by headstamp 2 (Ignorance is reparable, stupid is forever)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: WMarshal
Olivia Wilde portraying Madonna. You'll have to click here to find out why. Trust me it's good.
13 posted on 06/25/2017 8:10:16 PM PDT by Ciaphas Cain (I don't give a damn about your feelings. Try to impress me with your convictions.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: libstripper

14 posted on 06/25/2017 8:11:36 PM PDT by Pelham (Liberate California. Deport Mexico Now)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: WMarshal

Yes, she is quite attractive. But I wouldn’t get too excited as she has definitely come across as a huge libtard. Somehow, I get the feeling that this movie will alter the story to present “Big Brother” as some form of right-wing authoritarian figure. Hopefully, I’m wrong.


15 posted on 06/25/2017 8:13:10 PM PDT by hout8475
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: EdnaMode

1984 is not so much dystopian as it is a real depiction of a DemoSoros future.


16 posted on 06/25/2017 8:13:10 PM PDT by A strike (Television, and ESPECIALLY Madison Avenue is racist.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EdnaMode

Hands down the most prescient and terrifying book I ever read


17 posted on 06/25/2017 8:26:25 PM PDT by Stopthethreat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: A strike

Orwell knew many “insiders” and their plans.

1984 was a warning, pure and simple.

Brave New World was 1984 on drugs. :-)


18 posted on 06/25/2017 8:54:58 PM PDT by cgbg (Hidden behind the social justice warrior mask is corruption and sexual deviance.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: EdnaMode

Is Ms Wilde still wearing a diaper as a form of political protest? I forget the cause. She and others would not switch back to normal undies until there was some action taken.


19 posted on 06/25/2017 8:55:49 PM PDT by lurk
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EdnaMode

I wouldn’t be going if the play were across the street for free. I don’t consider spending two hours feeling lousy to be entertaining or even enlightening.


20 posted on 06/25/2017 9:02:53 PM PDT by lee martell
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-33 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson