Casting announced for 1984 at the Playhouse Theatre

Casting has been announced for George Orwell's 1984, adapted by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan, which will return to the Playhouse Theatre in London's West End, opening on 18 June 2015, following previews from 12 June, for a limited 12-week season until 5 September 2015. The production will then go on to an international and UK tour.

Matthew Spencer will star as Winston Smith, opposite Janine Harouni as Julia (until 25 July) and Hara Yannas (from 27 July). The rest of the company will include Simon Coates, Tim Dutton, Stephen Fewell, Christopher Patrick Nolan, Ben Porter, Gavin Spokes and Mandi Symonds.

All the cast members are returning to the show, having previously appeared in the touring, Almeida or West End productions.

1984 features designs by Chloe Lamford, lighting by Natasha Chivers, sound by Tom Gibbons and video by Tim Reid. The producers are Sonia Friedman Productions and Eleanor Lloyd Productions / Headlong, Nottingham Playhouse and Almeida Theatre.

Synopsis: "April, 1984. Comrade 6079, Winston Smith, thinks a thought and starts a diary. But Big Brother is always watching, and the door to Room 101 can swing open in the blink of an eye."

1984 was originally published in 1949 and went on to become one of the most popular and well read dystopian novels of the 20th Century. It is responsible for coining the term 'Big Brother', along with the now popular concept of 'Room 101' and 'thoughtcrimes'.

The production was originally seen at the Nottingham Playhouse in September 2013, before transferring to the Almeida Theatre in north London in February 2014. It then went on to enjoy a run at the Playhouse from 28 April to 23 August 2014.