Theatre is an inherently voyeuristic medium, so it's not surprising that two of London's hottest young artistic directors have seized on surveillance as the hot topic of the year. Directorial wunderkind Rupert Goold took over the Almeida Theatre last autumn, and has decided to kickstart 2014 with a radical theatre version of George Orwell's 1984. Directors Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan have infiltrated the text to update it for a twenty-first century audience that is no longer sure it can even take a bath without being spied on by the NSA. This new version - which has already received rave reviews on tour - looks at surveillance culture, identity, and, intriguingly, how thinking you can fly might be the first step towards flying in a daring update of Orwell's observations on systematic thought control.
Artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse Josie Rourke tackles the topic docudrama-style with Privacy, a production inspired by interviews with journalists, politicans and analysts about Edward Snowden's revelations. The main question it seeks to pose the audience is 'how much do we give away when we share?'
A fascinatingly different answer to this question is provided by the real-life couple in Abi Morgan's The Mistress Contract at the Royal Court, who have also been extensively recorded, but this time by themselves. He is 93, she is 88 and a committed feminist. They met at university, and then lost touch. Twenty years later they met again and started an affair. Over thirty years, he has provided her with a house (separate from his own) and income in return for mistress services.In their taped conversations, they debate different aspects of their relationship including the question of whether this is a betrayal of all she stands for, or a radical act of courage.
Another production looking at extramarital affairs is Andrew Lloyd Webber's Stephen Ward musical, which tells the story of the illicit encounters between Secretary of State John Profumo and Christine Keeler, putting Ward's story in the spotlight.