Year of the Rat

1948: George Orwell is attempting to finish his final novel - Nineteen Eighty Four - before ill-health forces him off the solated Scottish island he has made his home. Holed up with a shotgun and literary-circle bombshell Sonia Brownell for company he's desperately hoping for a last chance at happiness. But George is no womaniser and is sure to make a hash of things particularly after his childhood friend and notorious lecher Cyril Connolly turns up. Will he seduce Sonia or will Cyril scupper his plans? Can he survive his friends, both real and imaginary, and finish his masterpiece before death comes knocking? Year of the Rat had its UK premiere at West Yorkshire Playhouse in March 2008.