Orwellian: starring Larry Cedar

This show knocked my socks off. A tour de force from Larry Cedar, beautiful staging and direction, an incredible script - I havent read Orwell in long enough that I can't speak to how directly the text of the play was lifted from the text of his novels but the textual and theatrical elements worked together brilliantly to create an amazing, funny, disturbing representation of an Orwellian worldview that is very appropriate for our current world, both in the funny and disturbing aspects of that view. Basically, this show is amazing, and everyone should see it. ... full review

If 24/7 government surveillance is the price we pay for theatre of such stellar quality, then I say bring on Big Brother!... full review

As a longtime Orwell fan, it was great to see so many of his great pieces come alive in Larry Cedar's hands. The simple structure of the play and Cedar's rapid delivery perfectly distills the wild passion of Orwell's characters into a rage that's not only engaging, but also rather infectious. ... full review

It's up at Theatre of Note, which is a big space, but he fills it with Orwell's words flawlessly. I saw it at midnight, and as exhausted as I was, it was absolutely worth it, and I would have been fine staying all night. This is everything a one person show should be. Brilliant acting, beautiful language, a story to tell, and nothing standing between the performer and the audience.... full review

Orwellian draws from several of the late George Orwell's works, with the bulk of the material lifted from 1984; it's assembled in a way that creates a single narrative using several different characters. The pacing is brisk, the cues and transitions are precise, and the overall effect is astounding. Even if you're intimately familiar with Orwell's work (which I am), the play is no less engrossing, as seeing Orwell's words brought to life on a human face brings an entirely new weight and dimension to them. As it's Larry Cedar's face, it's quite captivating; he is a phenomenal actor (as you may well know already), and his work as both actor and adapter (he put together this play himself) is at times humorous, inspiring, poignant, and harrowing... full review