A Look into the Stars of 1984

Samo’s production of “1984” has more components to it than just the dancing and cool costumes. There are also the castmates, who have devoted so much time and energy into making it an amazing performance for everyone to see. Let’s take a look into the main stars of “1984” and their thoughts on the play.

Tali Chase’s profile:

Tali Chase(’23) is co-president of the theater council. She plays a character named O’Brien who is in charge of Oceania, the town in "1984”. Chase describes how rehearsals feel when it comes to being one of the leads of the play. 

“Rehearsals have been going everywhere, some days I feel great about the show and others I feel stressed.Today is our last rehearsal and for myself, I feel it went well and I am both nervous and excited about tomorrow’s performance,” Chase said.

Overall, Chase has a huge love for theater. She states how Ms. Barraza and her step-dad helped her every step of the way.

“This has by far been the most difficult acting/theater experience I have been in and I am very excited to show it to an audience,” Chase said.

Dylan Neumeyer’s profile:

Dylan Neumeyer (’23) knows how to sing, play different instruments and is the star of “1984”. One could say he has it all. This is Neumeyer's last year at Samo, making it an amazing experience to play Winston, the lead.

“I am incredibly nervous for the first performance, though I am quite confident that we are ready for it,” Neumeyer said.  

Neumeyer put an incredible amount of work into the play and is most excited about the audience's reactions to the performances. He is also excited about the opening scene of the play since it is complex and includes many emotions. Neumeyer also gets to have fun and enjoy rehearsals when acting with the people around him. 

“The scenes that are the most fun to act are in the third act where I am being tortured by O’Brien. I get to go slowly insane and just completely lose control,” Neumeyer said.

Rebekah Raphling’s profile:

Rebekah Raphling (’23) has been doing theater for a total of 10 years. “1984” will be her fifth Samo theater production where she plays one of the leads. 

Raphling plays Julia in the play. Julia is one of the main characters and is slightly rebellious. Her favorite scene to act in is the closing scene since it contradicts most of Julia’s behavior throughout the play and is quite sad.  

“I'm excited to see how the audience reacts to the show. It's pretty weird and intense so I'm interested in how they feel about it since it's unlike anything Samo has done in a while,”  Raphling said.