Sean C. Morgan
The atmosphere backstage at Sweet Home High School’s 1984 was festive Friday night before its second performance of George Orwell’s “1984.”
Cast members goofed off, joking around, and Sam Crain, playing a guard, shouted, “Deutschland uber alles.”
They had a good opening night Thursday. That was the cast’s opinion along with Director Adam Lloyd and Assistant Director Dan Thompson, who has directed 26 years of plays for the high school.
“Nice job last night,” Lloyd told his cast. “That show went so smoothly.”
He warned them not to get too relaxed about Friday night’s show though and to keep the intensity up.
“I thought they did great last night,” Lloyd said. “You could see how excited they were last night. They knew they did a great job. I was feeling pretty good. I thought they really just kind of stepped it up from the rehearsals.”
Between 80 and 100 persons attended opening night.
“It’s definitely different,” Jill Wilson (Julia) said. “I’m used to seeing the comedies.”
Wilson played opposite Justin Pearson (Winston), a couple who defied a collectivist system to commit “thought crimes” and marry each other.
Wilson, a sophomore, has been on another drama team for four years. That team, under the leadership of Lynn Cooper, puts on Christian dramas, records them to tape and sends them to churches.
“I love it – It’s a lot of fun,” Wilson said of working on “1984.” “I can se how it could happen.”
In a key scene to the message of the play, Wilson’s character is ecstatic with a new dress she was able to acquire. She dances happily across the stage, after changing out of her uniform overalls, exclaiming, “I’m wearing a dress.”
“I really liked that scene,” Wilson said. “It’s probably my favorite one because it shows no matter how controlling Big Brother is, each person still has their own secret desires that Big Brother can’t control. She wants to be herself not what someone else wants her to be.
“I think probably the kind of Big Brother of today would be more or less what other people see you as.
People seem to follow fashion and want to look perfect because “someone else is always watching,” Wilson said. “Sometimes, people don’t look at you for yourself. Big Brother isn’t a government or a person. It’s society.”
Looming over nearly scene is a television screen spewing propaganda from a state official portrayed by Van Sherwood. These screens are also the eyes and ears of Big Brother.
Julia and Winston were caught in their thought crimes by a screen hidden in their apartment. Captured, they were taken to the Ministry of Love where Pearson and Alex Wilson (O’Brien, a member of the inner party) handled much of the third and final act, taking the play to its climax as O’Brien tortures Winston.
Both are seniors.
Pearson has been involved in the high school plays every year. Wilson was on the cast of last year’s play, “You Can’t Take it With You.”
“I got tricked into it by a friend,” A. Wilson said. “Also, I had a crush on the girl that was going to be the leading actress.”
A. Wilson was familiar with “1984” before working on the play. He has read only some of the book, but the music he listens to often references the story.
“I think it’s an awesome play,” A. Wilson said. “The whole concept of a communist society, you never think it could happen.”
“It’s just kind of scary to think about,” Pearson said. “I think if it happens, it’s going to happen gradually.”
The idea is “totally plausible,” A. Wilson said, referencing the Patriot Act as an example. He also wondered, “if the book ‘1984’ never came out, would the society of ‘1984’ have come to pass.”
Pearson sees some of the ideas in today’s society, “constantly having someone to hate so we don’t go against the government.”
The story focuses on the elimination of “identity to make everyone the same” as a basis for control, A. Wilson said.
For both, the final act is the favorite. Pearson is on his knees or prone on the floor at the bottom of the spotlight while A. Wilson badgers him with propaganda.
“I like being the bloody, ruthless personality,” A. Wilson said. That’s the exact of opposite of his own personality. “Being able to be a jerk to Justin is kind of fun.”
Both were happy with opening night, usually the worst because cast members are getting used to a crowd and still a little nervous.
“It’s just been a lot of fun,” Pearson said .
“I wish I would have done it all through high school,” A. Wilson said.
The play ran through Saturday night.