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Wilson says the challenge in playing Smith is to get inside the head of someone who knows he is doomed.

“He knows he will eventually say everything they want him to say, but his personal salvation is the knowledge that they can’t get inside him. They can make him say he loves Big Brother, but they can’t actually make him love Big Brother, which means he has won.

“The authorities can make an individual do things they don’t want to do but they can never make him or her want to, need to and love to do these things. That is Winston’s weapon against Big Brother.”

Wilson says this is exemplified by the structure in Sullivan’s stage version of 1984. Smith’s captors make him watch their interpretation of his life so the play unfolds for him, and the audience, in real time. Smith is made to relive his memories through their eyes.

Wilson said the director, Pickering, and his technical crew use sound effects and special effects to make this 1984 “scarier and more unsettling than most versions. It’s going to be a very visceral experience for the audiences.”

The Thought Police in Scorpio’s 1984 are played by Dorin MacIntosh, Tanis Laatch, Carl Bishop and Ted Lach with Luigino Savoia as the mysterious O’Brien, who is either Smith’s greatest ally or greatest foe.

Tickets, $23 for adults and $19 for seniors and students, are available at the door or in advance at scorpio.ca/tickets/