On 21 March, the citizens of Sarajevo will have the opportunity to once again see play ‘1984’ in Sarajevo War Theatre (SARTR) at 8 p.m.
‘1984’ is an adaptation of novel by George Orwell, and directed by Benjamin Bajramović and Jasenko Pašić.
Cast of the play: Jasenko Pašić, Amila Terzimehić and Benjamin Bajramović.
The play is a dystopian and satirical novel set in Oceania, where society is tyrannized by the Party and its totalitarian ideology. The Oceanian province of Airstrip One is a world of perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance, and public mind control, dictated by a political system euphemistically named English Socialism (Ingsoc) under the control of a privileged Inner Party elite that persecutes all individualism and independent thinking as thought crimes. Their tyranny is headed by Big Brother, the quasi-divine Party leader who enjoys an intense cult of personality, but who may not even exist. Big Brother and the Party justify their rule in the name of a supposed greater good.
The protagonist of the novel, Winston Smith, is a member of the Outer Party who works for the Ministry of Truth (Minitrue), which is responsible for propaganda and historical revisionism. His job is to re-write past newspaper articles so that the historical record always supports the current party line. Smith is a diligent and skilful worker, but he secretly hates the Party and dreams of rebellion against Big Brother.
