Year of the Rat
Year of the Rat is a play by Roy Smiles. It presents a (fictional) encounter between author George Orwell, his future wife Sonia Brownell, and his friend Cyril Connolly. The action takes place in 1948, in a remote cottage on the island of Jura in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, where Orwell, in poor health, has sequestered himself to finish writing Nineteen Eighty-Four.
In addition to the three human characters, the play includes three anthropomorphic animals who are figments of Orwell's imagination. They are Boxer (the horse from Animal Farm), a Stalinesque pig, and a congenial rat. The play's directions suggest the animals all be played by the same actor.[1]
Production[edit]
Year of the Rat had its UK premiere at West Yorkshire Playhouse on March 7, 2008.[1] The original cast and crew were:[1]
- George Orwell: Hugo Speer
- Sonia Brownell: Claudia Elmhurst
- Cyril Connolly: Nicholas Blane
- Boxer / Pig / Rat: Paul Kemp
- Director: Alan Strachan
- Designer: Michael Pavelka
- Lighting: Jason Taylor
- Sound: Mic Pool
- Movement: Lucinda Hind
- Assistant Director: Kathryn Ind
Playing the three animals, Paul Kemp was assisted by designer Michael Pavelka to "change his posture, facial features, and of course clothing" between characters.[2]
Reception[edit]
Writing in The Telegraph, critic Charles Spencer found Year of the Rat "mildly entertaining, but Orwell deserves better than this strained comedy".[3] Spencer felt that Smiles should have dug deeper into Orwell's character, and examined what drove the Etonian scholar to embrace the idea of social justice so fervently.
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Year of the Rat script. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
- ↑ Year of the Rat on the website of Michael Pavelka. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
- ↑ "Year of the Rat: A wasted opportunity to get to the heart of George Orwell" on The Telegraph website. Dated March 14, 2008. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
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