V J Foster

The words "timelier than ever" have wreathed George Orwell's "1984" since its publication in 1949, but could there be anything more Orwellian than the current "war on terrorism"? This unenviable backdrop of ours, with its daily headlines registering the curtailment of civil liberties for indeterminate national security imperatives, sharpens the urgency of the Actors' Gang staging of "1984," which opened Saturday at the Ivy Substation under the direction of company artistic director Tim Robbins.

'If you know your dad will give you the dough, you have no reason to get a job," said actor-director Tim Robbins. "It's crippling." And so Robbins has stepped down as the Actors' Gang artistic director and chief financial benefactor (if not its dad). The group is now being run by a board committee of six company members: Ned Bellamy, Brian Brophy, V.J.