'Fahrenheit 451': –Runs at Daylesford Theatre –until July 9

By Robyn Skinner

I didn't know what to expect. I had heard the words 'sci-fi' and 'another world' bantered around, but none as intense as the 12-page speech one of the actors in 'Fahrenheit 451', the full-length directing debut by Jym Brier at Daylesford Theatre and presented by Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society, had to learn verbatim.

Still, I was pretty sure I was going to be drudging away through the play named after the temperature at which books combust , i.e. the premise of this play. I was pleasantly surprised.

Written by Ray Bradbury and published in a shorter form as 'The Fireman' in 1951, the novel, turned play, tells of an American society where reading is outlawed and hedonism reigns. Well, at least television does.

Rather than reading them, a select few in society have been hired to burn books – firemen. And rather than alarms to help extinguish fires, these alarms catch the dastardly reader consumed in the possibility of critical or creative thought. Which leads to the main character, fireman Guy Montag, who Doug Jones plays with intense creativity.

Montag meets his next-door neighbour, 16-year-old Clarisse, with a penchant for thinking (not done in 'Fahrenheit 451' world). He starts questioning things. Montag returns home and finds his wife passed-out on the couch. The medics arrive, pump her stomach and happily leave. The next morning she awakes, hungry and ready for her TV. It's her show – the Mildred show. And it leads to one of the most amusing interactions in the play as Montag storms off the stage exhausted by his wife's obsession with not thinking. Mildred, well played by Natalie Pereech, oblivious to his discontent, stares into the audience answering the voice from the TV screen and eagerly starring in her show – The Mildred Show.

Mildred's – and the other actor's – staring into the audience as if watching TV, adds an appropriately creepy atmosphere to 'Fahrenheit 451'. This leads me to the best part of this production – the minimalist set. With white background and few props, the stage is awakened by the creative lighting and pre-recorded tracks that echo from above provide context. The only criticism? The track could have been a bit louder. Sometimes it was difficult to hear.

The next best part? Mr. Bradbury's scarily, accurate vision of future society. How close to the truth the 12 pages of words uttered by the fire chief, played by Ben Winfield, seem to be today. "Forget the story. Give me the pow," he rants and raves. He continues for minutes about how little time and energy the society wants to invest in reading. And how much energy it takes if you start questioning facts. Instead society, he says in the play, wanted to turn into TV-consumed consumers.

But while the play is about the lack of interaction between humans in Mr. Bradbury's future, the play is carried by interactions. It was the amusing frustration between Montag and his reality-TV obsessed wife; the innocent Montag schooled by thinking, 16-year-old Clarisse; and finally the terrorisation of Montag by the clearly, book-learned fire chief, Beatty, that pulls this play along.

So, if you can turn off the TV, come and enjoy this incredible production of 'Fahrenheit 451' and the talent of the actors ranging from Amber Wilson to Ben Winfield. That's if you can handle a night of critical thought.