The Palmerton Area High School’s Drama Club will be performing its fall play George Orwell’s “1984” tonight, Friday and Saturday at the high school.

Brent Harris, the director, said he chose this play, because the material is challenging and is based on a book that is still relevant today. The play was written in 1948. The admission cost is $5.“The play has pushed our cast to create more intense performances than they have in any other production,” Harris said. “It has allowed us to break away from intense set designs or musical numbers, and instead, to focus on developing characters and watching their transitions throughout the performance.”The story is about a young man, Winston, and a young woman, Julia, who fall in love in a nation that will not permit it. In fact, the government, aka The Party, which is led by an intimidating figure, Big Brother, has reduced the English language to words so simple that no one is able to express their true feelings and thoughts.Harris explained that Winston and Julia decide to rebel against the Party and to stand up for a free society. Their relationship and loyalty to each other is tested when they are discovered and faced with the Party’s extreme forms of rehabilitation.The cast includes 15 students: Sydney Geist, loudspeaker; Matthew Binder, parsons; Mitchell Hourt, Syme; Sean Hall, as Winston Smith; Mikayla Wilkins, messenger; Kelly Heinick, coffee vendor; Devin Rivera, first guard; Sierra Hahn, second guard; Zeke Himmelwright, as O’Brien; Lyndsay Fronheiser, Julia; Justin Marsteller, Big Brother; Grace Heist, as Gladys; Alex Crispo, landlady; Brayden Kline, as Martin; and Katelyn Rehatchek, waitress.They began working on the production in mid-September and have been rehearsing three to four times a week. The cast has faced some challenges, such as the large amount of dialogue. One of the characters has more than 400 lines, Harris said.The teens have also struggled with the level of intensity in this production, but the struggle has also created a team out of the cast and crew. At times, “the whole cast would stand at the font of the stage to watch one or two members work their way through a scene.”The club has been performing uplifting shows for several years. Harris said he realizes this play “doesn’t necessarily set an audience up to leave smiling.”“However, it asks them to think about a much larger concept of freedom, and how we go about living our lives while being watched or while in private,” he said. “It also brings up the concepts of loyalty in relationships as it asks us to consider just how much we would be willing to endure to protect those we love. Above all, we hope that this production stirs our audience to think about how these concepts apply in their own lives.”