SPA- 1984 -4

Today, we were given our cast list! It is as follows:
Rob - Winston
Rhiannon (yo girl) - Julia
Oliver K- O'Brein
Katya - Host, Martin, Thought Criminal
Oliver M - Child, Goldstein, Woman's voice
James - Parsons, Father
Hope - Mrs Parsons, Waitress
Charlie - Charrington, Speakwrite
Lewis - Syme, Man
Lorna - Voice, Mother, Woman

After being told that I am to be playing Julia, I decided to do some research into her so that I have a better understanding of how she should be played;

Julia is Winston Smith's love-interest and his ally in the struggle against Big Brother. She represents the elements of humanity that Winston does not: pure sexuality, cunning, and survival. While Winston simply manages to survive, Julia is a true survivalist, using any means necessary to conduct her self-centered rebellion. Her demeanor is that of a zealous Party follower, but just under that surface is an individual with unchecked human desires and a willful spirit, which ultimately results in her capture.

Julia is an outwardly sexual being and sleeps with Party members regularly - at least before she meets Winston. She does not do this to destroy the Party but to quench her own desires. Whereas Winston's  rebellion is as much for future generations as it is for himself; her rebellion is purely incidental to her own desires.Julia is far more intuitive and realistic than Winston. She understands the Party better than he does and is more cunning in the ways that she defies Party doctrine.

Julia uses sex to attack the Party, but it is far less effective a weapon than love. When Julia and Winston fall in love, they commit the ultimate offense against the Party. Note that the couple are caught at their happiest moment, the moment where they let down their guard and felt like an ordinary couple. Both had been watched for years and could have been captured at any time. But not until their love was strong did the Party intervene. Separating the couple diminishes their effectiveness: As individuals they do not understand the party wholly, nor are they capable of resistance.

Superficially, Julia seems like an uncomplicated character. She functions as a sounding board for Winston, but she is far more complicated than that. Winston has real antipathy toward women resulting from the Party's indoctrination and from its stringent sexual codes. Julia does not follow these strict sexual codes and, in fact, breaks them at every opportunity. She shows Winston, who once imagined raping and killing her, that the Party cannot get to the most intimate places in a human being's mind; she is his proof that the feelings that he has been having are valid. Julia gives Winston hope, and it is the continuation of this hope that gets them both destroyed.
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Julia is Winston Smith’s Juliet. Is the name a coincidence? Probably not. A duplicitous and whimsical creature, her sexual allure inspires Winston to start the rebellious writings (because he fantasizes about her). She then acts as Winston’s ally in active rebellion, although her idea of revolt is more in-your-arms than up-in-arms. Julia is a dark-haired, twenty-six-year-old employed as a machine operator in the Fiction Department at the Ministry of Truth. Looking like a zealous Party member, she wears an (ironic) Anti-Sex sash around her waist, and always participates passionately during the Two Minutes Hate. Julia’s other side is much more interesting. She is a woman with raging hormones and a cunning spirit. A highly sexual being, she sleeps with Party members regularly to satisfy her own desires. She busies herself with community service and other orthodox activities so that she can escape the Party’s thought crime radar.

Sites used for research;
https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/n/1984/character-analysis/julia

http://www.shmoop.com/1984/julia.html

https://writingasiplease.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/characters-of-1984-julia/