Northern Ballet: 1984

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0:00:34 > 0:00:37I first read 1984 when I was around 15.

0:00:37 > 0:00:40And I just really connected with the main character

0:00:40 > 0:00:43in this kind of journey against the system

0:00:43 > 0:00:45and all of the different,

0:00:45 > 0:00:46sort of, concepts within the book.

0:00:46 > 0:00:49And they just seemed very relevant to me at the time.

0:00:49 > 0:00:54Ever since, it's kind of been in the back of my mind as one of the books

0:00:54 > 0:00:57that I want to, sort of, reimagine for the stage.

0:00:57 > 0:01:01So the process of translating it from, sort of, page to stage,

0:01:01 > 0:01:04really, is a very lengthy one.

0:01:04 > 0:01:06It starts with me, you know,

0:01:06 > 0:01:07knowing the book inside out

0:01:07 > 0:01:11and then using that and staying very loyal to it -

0:01:11 > 0:01:16sort of imagining in my adaptation what would work scene by scene,

0:01:16 > 0:01:18and how to tell this quite, you know,

0:01:18 > 0:01:21structured, difficult story, really.

0:01:21 > 0:01:26And so from those... I call it, like, my narrative action script...

0:01:26 > 0:01:28So once I've got that script,

0:01:28 > 0:01:30it's about working with the different collaborators.

0:01:30 > 0:01:33So first, it's working with composers.

0:01:33 > 0:01:36So Alex Baranowski and myself would sit down

0:01:36 > 0:01:40and he would just go with, "What does the world of 1984 sound like?"

0:01:40 > 0:01:43And then once we have that musical world, it's about

0:01:43 > 0:01:44creating a visual world.

0:01:44 > 0:01:47And so once you come to the first day of rehearsals,

0:01:47 > 0:01:52in my mind, there's this musical and physical world created.

0:01:52 > 0:01:57And it's about, sort of, layering the physical script,

0:01:57 > 0:02:00the physical choreography of the action

0:02:00 > 0:02:02and the characters within that world.

0:02:02 > 0:02:06I mean, my ambition is to tell this story without words.

0:02:06 > 0:02:09And it's a very cinematic quality to the production.

0:02:09 > 0:02:13And the kind of focus of the story is really helped

0:02:13 > 0:02:15by capturing it on screen.

0:02:15 > 0:02:18And so if I was to speak to an audience,

0:02:18 > 0:02:22all I would ask is that they were very open

0:02:22 > 0:02:26to seeing this modern classic in a different way.

0:02:28 > 0:02:30MUSIC STARTS

0:47:34 > 0:47:37APPLAUSE

0:47:50 > 0:47:52MUSIC STARTS

1:26:15 > 1:26:19APPLAUSE

1:26:48 > 1:26:50CHEERING

1:26:54 > 1:26:57CHEERING

1:27:14 > 1:27:17APPLAUSE CONTINUES

1:27:24 > 1:27:26CHEERING