Wilde on her ‘dystopian’ Broadway debut in 1984
As an actress, Olivia Wilde has lots of reasons why making her Broadway debut in George Orwell’s dystopian thriller 1984 is special. As a mother, she has just two: her young children. “Well certainly becoming a mother helped me understand that you have to really focus on the future and what we’re doing now and what’s going to affect our children’s future,” Wilde said Thursday after opening night. “The message of the play is that we should love one another, and I hope my kids glean that from this experience,” Wilde said.
The novel and stage adaptation tells the story of a man who works at the Ministry of Truth promoting adoration of the mythical leader Big Brother. He illegally falls in love with Wilde’s character and endures terrible torture. The actors put their bodies on the line, too. Wilde broke her tailbone early in previews, and then split open her lip in a later show. She had no idea she would get knocked around so much in a play. “It’s an intense story and it involves a lot of intense participation,” Wilde said.
That same dedication extends to Tom Sturridge (pictured with Wilde), who is the doomed protagonist. “What is so exciting is to do a play which engenders such visceral reactions, be it people who are walking out, people passing out, people vomiting, people screaming out. Theater should be that way,” he said. Sturridge ended up with a broken nose. “It’s a physical play, and we wanted to tell the story, go to the lengths that are required,” Sturridge said.
The message of the play (1984) is that we should love one another, and I hope my kids glean that from this experience.” Olivia Wilde