(Left to right) Andrew Scott, Cynthia Erivo, Andrew Garfield and Tom Hardy are the main voices behind this adaptation.

On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles (who later wrote, directed, and starred in) citizen Kaneone of the greatest films of all time) narrated the radio adaptation of H.G. Wells’s classic Martian-invasion novel, the war of the WorldsThe only problem was that Welles was a little too forceful and a little too scary in his narration. The CBS Radio Network, the mainstay of American entertainment at the time, was constantly receiving phone calls from viewers who actually believed that Martians had invaded our planet. One Midwestern sheriff wanted to take legal action against CBS because half his town was paralyzed in the streets. This shows just how influential a good radio drama can be.

I was reminded of this little piece of radio history while listening to Audible’s superlative new adaptation of George Orwell’s dystopian novel1984Written by Joe Wright, the adaptation features an original score co-written by Muse singer and lead guitarist Matthew Bellamy and composer Ilan Eshkeri, and performed by the London Metropolitan Orchestra. The all-star cast is led by Andrew Garfield and Cynthia Erivo as Winston and Julia, respectively, young lovers whose relationship is also an act of rebellion against the all-seeing Big Brother and ‘the Party’. Andrew Scott (recently seen in the Netflix miniseries Ripley) is effortless and sinister as Mr. O’Brien, Winston’s party colleague whom he suspects is secretly part of the rebel ‘Brotherhood’. And the inimitable Tom Hardy does a flawless cameo as the voice of Big Brother. The entire story, around 200 minutes long, is divided into seven parts.

21st century sensibility

There are two things you’ll notice immediately about this adaptation – it’s extremely cinematic and it takes a lot of liberties with Orwell’s text. For example, Big Brother watches all of its citizens courtesy of omnipresent TV screens, which are described by Garfield’s Winston as “surveillance” (a decidedly contemporary term) throughout. Generally, the text is condensed in such a way that ‘third-party’ lines such as parts of police files, newspaper clippings, excerpts from fictional texts, etc. are minimized. The reason this works so well for this adaptation is because of the first point I mentioned: its extremely cinematic nature, thanks to Bellamy and Eshkeri’s brilliant original score. In almost every chapter, the score starts on an ambient, orchestral note and it continues to increase the sense of urgency with every minute, until the last one-third of every chapter signals paranoia and despair with every note of the music.

Erivo and Garfield shine

But really, this 1984 relies largely on star power and the terrific work done by its A-list cast. Erivo, in particular, is a revelation as Julia. Although I was familiar with her recent record on TV (HBO’s The outsider This is one of his home runs), this was the first time I heard him do voice work, and he is incredible. The romance and lovemaking scenes between him and Garfield maintain the sense of fragility that is paramount to Orwell’s text.

Garfield’s big moments usually come at the end of each chapter, when Winston is usually rethinking the motives of Julia or his friends and colleagues, wondering if any of them are secretly part of the dreaded ‘Thought Police’. For example, when he spots O’Brien during a public meeting, Winston swings wildly between presenting O’Brien as a member of the Brotherhood – and vice versa, his ‘day job’ as a member of the Party’s inner circles. Watch how the dialogue reflects this boomerang motion – Garfield’s work here is cut out for him and he skillfully moves the audience between hope and despair.

Reimagining Orwell

“I caught O’Brien’s eye. Just for a fraction of a second, but it was enough to know. Yes, now I know O’Brien was thinking the same thing I was thinking. I’m on your side, Winston.. And just like that, it was gone. O’Brien’s face was as mysterious as ever. A moment so fleeting that I doubted if it even happened. But I know it did. And it keeps me hoping that it wasn’t just me who did it…’

As the excerpt above shows, this is a contemporary, Netflix-era version of Orwell reimagined through snappy dialogue. Purists might object to the complete removal of Orwell’s original lines, but for the purpose of a radio adaptation, I found the abbreviated version to be perfect.

Audible 1984 It’s a great starting point for beginners to read this 20th century classic. I’m sure a large portion of this audience will re-read (or re-read, as the case may be) the original novel to expand their horizons.

The author and journalist is working on his first non-fiction book.