Orwell Festival -
June-July 2009
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Orwell: A Celebration
We are delighted to be part of the celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of the publication of Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (8th June 1949) and the 70th anniversary of Coming Up for Air (12th June 1939). We’ll also be celebrating the 75th anniversary of Orwell’s first novel, Burmese Days, later this year (25th October 1934).
We're organising the following panel discussions around the themes raised in 1984 and Coming Up for Air, in conjunction with Orwell: A Celebration (click on the links for more):
- Saturday 13th June | 5-6pm | Trafalgar Studios
- Andy Beckett | Lisa Harker | Paul Mason | Jean Seaton (chair)
- Free to Orwell: A Celebration ticket holders, call 0870 060 6632 for more information
- Saturday 20th June | 5-6pm | Trafalgar Studios
- Alan Cox | Dominic Cavendish | Chris Durlacher | Jean Seaton (chair)
- Free to Orwell: A Celebration ticket holders, call 0870 060 6632 for more information
- Saturday 27th June | 5-6pm | Trafalgar Studios
- Jo Glanville | Maajid Nawaz | Hopi Sen | Patrick Marmion (chair)
- Free to Orwell: A Celebration ticket holders, call 0870 060 6632 for more information
- Saturday 4th July | 5-6pm | Trafalgar Studios
- Clare Algar | Glen Newey | Jean Seaton (chair)
- Free to Orwell: A Celebration ticket holders, call 0870 060 6632 for more information
All of the events are free to Orwell: A Celebration ticket holders - call 0870 060 6632 for more information.
Orwell: A Celebration is a theatrical tribute to Orwell’s works. A Celebration features the West End premiere of Dominic Cavendish’s critically-acclaimed adaptation of Coming Up for Air starring Hal Cruttenden, and extracts from 1984, ‘A Hanging’ and ‘Shooting an Elephant’ with Alan Cox and Ben Porter, all directed by Gene David Kirk. More details will follow, with A Celebration running from 8th June to 4th July.
The BBC have recently published a selection of their Orwell archive material online to mark the 60th anniversary of 1984.
Meanwhile in Bradford, the National Media Museum hosted a very special live production of 1984, with a video performance by John Hurt as Big Brother, on 3rd June. John Hurt played Winston Smith in Michael Radford’s 1984 film of 1984, and the Museum also screened the film on 4th June.
The New Statesman published a Nineteen Eighty-Four 60th anniversary special for its 1 June issue.