1984

Four musicians sit along the back wall. A single performer steps forward and becomes Winston Smith — and then becomes the telescreen, the Party, the room above the shop, the rat cage. Giorgos Papageorgiou directs, adapts, and performs George Orwell's 1984 alone, with original music by Alexandros-Dracos Ktistakis played live.

The production ran its first season at Theatro Dipylon and returns for a second, running Mondays and Tuesdays. Elena Triantafyllopoulou handles the translation and adaptation of Orwell's text into Greek.

If you want a faithful page-to-stage transfer with a full ensemble, one actor playing every role is a different proposition. But if you want Orwell's surveillance state rendered as something you feel in the room — the music tightening when Big Brother closes in — Papageorgiou builds that pressure from nothing but voice, body, and four instruments.

Theatro Dipylon, Samouil Kaloyrou 2 near Koumoundourou Square in Kerameikos. Curtain at 21:00.

Orwell set the novel in 1984. The play works best in any year that feels like it.