Orwell: A Celebration

Dominic Cavendish’s acclaimed monologue adaptation of George Orwell’s Coming up for Air – first seen at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2008 – forms the first half of an unprecedented theatrical homage to Orwell created to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the novel and the 60th anniversary of his masterwork Nineteen Eighty-Four.

As well as placing two of his best-loved essays – Shooting an Elephant and A Hanging – in a theatrical context, Cavendish has distilled The Ministry of Love interrogation scenes from 1984 into a short, sharp, shocking vignette of a man’s inhumanity to man. Together they demonstrate the enduring power and range of Orwell’s writing, its observational clarity, bracing humour and political intensity.

Orwell: A Celebration was in production at the Trafalgar Studios, London, in June 2009.