1984 Detailed Content Warning

Visiting a theatre performance can be a profound and moving experience, but it can also evoke unexpected emotions or memories that some may find triggering. Chris Hannan's new stage adaptation of 1984 contains some distressing themes around totalitarianism, mass surveillance and torture. 

Some themes are spoken about rather than directly shown, while others form part of the live action, sound or visual world of the production. While the production is unflinching in its commitment to confront these themes, we have created the following content warnings for audience members who would like to understand more about what to expect.

Sensory notes

Loud and distorted sounds with sudden changes in volume
Blackout moments where the stage and auditorium will go dark
Violent themes

Scenes of physical torture
Blood, including depictions of someone coughing blood
Death and suicide, including descriptions of mass hanging and the death of a child
War and bombing, including descriptions of a bombing involving a boat
Exploitation and forced labour, including a reference to slave labour

Sexual themes

References to sexual violence, including  conversations referencing rape and sexual assault
Descriptions of violent pornography and disturbing sexual imagery
Graphic descriptions of sexual violence, including one reference to glass being inserted into a person’s vagina
References to a threesome and the presence of a sex toy
Additional themes

Distressing depictions of power and control, including characters pleading for their lives.