George Orwell’s “1984” adaptation to open on Broadway this summer

PanARMENIAN.Net - The hit London stage adaptation of “1984”, the George Orwell novel that has suddenly become a bestseller in the age of Trump, will come to Broadway this summer in a production backed by “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” producer Sonia Friedman and Scott Rudin, Variety said.

The show is co-adapted and directed by Robert Icke, one of London’s busiest theater directors, who recently helmed the National Theater’s production of David Hare’s “The Red Barn” starring Mark Strong and Hope Davis. Created by Icke and Duncan Macmillian, “1984” proved a hit in the U.K. in 2014.

The New York production is lined up for a summer run at the Hudson Theater, the newly restored Broadway venue that will reopen later this month with “Sunday in the Park With George” starring Jake Gyllenhaal. The Hudson is owned by the U.K.-based Ambassador Theater Group, of which Sonia Friedman Prods. is a subsidiary.

“1984” was originally produced in the U.K. by Headlong, Nottingham Playhouse and the Almeida Theater. The design team, which includes Chloe Lamford (sets and costumes), Natasha Chivers (lights), Tom Gibbons (sound) and Tim Reid (video), remains on board, but casting for the American production has yet to be set.

“1984” will open June 22, with the start date for previews still to be determined. As the calendar currently stands, the play will be the first to open of the 2017-18 Broadway season.