Orwell’s novel of existential angst (subsequently given the appearance of alarming prescience by events in the Cold War) set in a dystopian future, is well established as a classic of the genre. The mark of its status within the culture is that even those unfamiliar with the novel will likely have heard of Big Brother and Room 101 and thoughtcrime. The story is an ironic take on a post war Britain which has supposedly been subsumed into the super-state of Oceania, that is ruled by the invisible, omnipresent being known as Big Brother and who is not known directly, but only through his iconic image. It is a dark vision in which ‘thought crime’ is relentlessly policed and punished.

Adapted directly from the Stephen King novel by Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns. Andy Dufresne (Ian Kelsey), a sensitive, thoughtful man, wrongly convicted for the murder of his wife and her lover, initially finds himself to be the ‘outsider’ inside the penitentiary and buddies up with the only other rounded human being, Ellis ‘Red’ Redding (Patrick Robinson), who has been rightfully convicted for a crime of passion . . . those unfamiliar with the story will also find a moving testament to human resilience in this cleverly staged and compelling production.