REVIEW - 1984, Theatre Royal, Bath: If Northern Stage Ensemble's riveting, hard-hitting and intensely visual version of 1984 proves anything, it dispels the myth that George Orwell got it wrong he never meant the work as a prophesy, rather a warning for all time.

Directors Alan Lyddiard and Mike Murphy aimed their mixed-media performance directly at young people born in 1984 who are now reaching voting age.

Big Brother and Room 101 are reclaimed from their current TV status and replaced in their nightmare context, and crucially, we are invited to look at Orwell's take on the games politicians play.

The novel's mental landscape of fear and paranoia is brilliantly created in the theatre by the a huge screen showing close-ups, simultaneously dwarfing the actors.

Big Brother certainly is watching Winston Smith on his ubiquitous CCTV, and so, by implication are we.

We see Winston's defiant, furtive diary entries, the notes passed between him and Julia of the Anti-Sex league.

The footage forces us to spy on the tender vulnerability of their lovemaking. As the hero, Craig Conway makes a frail but indomitable Everyman in grey dungarees, while Jane Arnfield is a bold, poignant and wholesomely anarchic Julia.

The production is powerful but not perfect. An unnecessary interval sliced through the intensity of the experience and there were teething problems with mikes. The sound design by Rob Brown, though chilling and surreal, sometimes muffled the dialogue. But anyone of voting age should look and listen to this impressive take on Orwell's fable.

Sue Le Blond