Keith Allen stars in new stage adaptation of George Orwell’s ‘1984’

Even if they haven’t read the book, most people are still very familiar with George Orwell’s nightmare vision of a totalitarian future – and its relevance to today – in his dystopian classic, 1984.

The famed 1949 novel deals with an all-controlling party that has brainwashed the population into unthinking obedience to its leader, Big Brother.

Actor Keith Allen, the star of a new, “very technical” stage version of 1984 which is coming to Cambridge later this month, is among those who have never read it.

Alongside the seasoned performer and father-of-Lily, the cast also includes Mark Quartley as Winston, Eleanor Wyld as Julia, and David Birrell as Parsons.

Keith, 71, took a break from some “pretty intense” rehearsals to speak to the Cambridge Independent, 10 days before the tour was due to kick off in Bath.

How closely is this new production, which is directed by Lindsay Posner, linked to the book?

“I wouldn’t know because I’ve never read the book,” reveals the experienced actor and director, whose numerous film and television credits over the years include Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Death in Paradise, Eddie the Eagle, 24 Hour Party People, and The Young Ones.

“But, from what I gather, it’s an interpretation. There’s a lot of the book in it, obviously, and I think that there are lumps of it that are verbatim, that have been taken from the book, but percentage-wise I couldn’t tell you because I’ve never read it… I know the story because everyone else has read it for me!”

People often talk about how Orwell’s vision has come true today, in terms of surveillance, Big Brother and the loss of privacy, among other things.

“I think you’d have to be pretty stupid not to make the connections, to be honest with you,” says Keith, who also co-wrote England’s greatest ever football anthem, World in Motion, with New Order (sorry Baddiel and Skinner and The Lightning Seeds), “because everyone has access to all news feeds – whether it be true or not true.

“I think nowadays, a really pertinent question in people’s minds is ‘is it true?’ When I was young, nobody really knew what mis- or disinformation was – now, 11 and 12-year-olds understand what both those things are.

“That’s the world we live in, so I think in terms of it being reflected by the play, yeah, most definitely. The play is fundamentally about how you control reality, and all you’ve got to do is get on the internet…

“I mean look at Donald Trump, the man just brazenly lies and, like he says, if you continue to lie enough, people will a) either believe it or b) ignore it – but it still exists, and he’s still got a huge following.”

Although he hasn’t read 1984, Keith has read Orwell’s The Road to Wigan Pier and Animal Farm.

“I don’t think he was a particularly great writer, in terms of prose,” he says of the author, who died in 1950 at the age of 46, “but I think a lot of his stuff is polemical, and certainly political, which I can identify with, of course.”

Keith takes on the role of O’Brien in the play.

“Bottom line, I think the man has a huge knot right in the middle of his back,” he says of the character, “and I think it is there because he wasn’t tortured into the position that he holds in the party – he acquiesced.

“And I think he sees in Winston, deep down, a kind of bravery about him, which he wishes he had. I think that’s what gnaws at him on a daily basis.

“That’s why he has a kind of inner fury, and he masks it with this very put-on, fairly shallow urbaneness. That’s how I’m playing him anyway.”

Looking to the future, are there any particular parts that Keith still covets, parts that might be on his ‘to do’ list?

“People often ask me that,” he replies, “I guess the easy answer is to say ‘Yeah, King Lear at some point’, but I don’t think I’m capable…

“I’ve never done a Shakespeare so I’d really like to play Sir Toby Belch actually, in Twelfth Night – that’s a role I’d love to do.”

1984 is on at the Cambridge Arts Theatre from Tuesday, 22 October, to Saturday, 26 October. Tickets, priced £25-£45, are available from cambridgeartstheatre.com.