It's made worldwide headlines with audiences fainting, vomiting and screaming out during the performance, so do you have the stomach to see 1984 when it visits Canberra next week?
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The stage adaptation of George Orwell's dystopian novel from British theatre directors Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan, which premiered on London's West End in 2014, is touring the country with an all-Australian cast, and arrives in Canberra on July 25.
So is the play really that bad?
"I personally don't believe it is, in fact we don't really show you much at all," said 1984's associate director, Corey McMahon.
"The show is very clever in letting the audience's imagination do the work. There is nothing as powerful as our own imaginations.
"Whenever something happens to [main character] Winston towards the end of the play... we take the lights out so it goes completely black. So you don't actually really ever see any acts of torture - it's your imagination that's doing that work. There's blood, but it's stage blood."
McMahon believes most of the reports of audience members not being able to handle the play have come from Broadway, where the show has also recently premiered starring Hollywood stars Olivia Wilde and Tom Sturridge.
The one Australian incident he's aware of was in Adelaide, where an audience member reacted to the play's liberal use of stage blood.
"We had a poor man in Adelaide who gets queasy at the sight of blood and he was in the very front row, and he started to feel a bit wobbly, but thankfully the man sitting next to him was a doctor," he said.
"So in the key room 101 scene where Winston is undergoing his corrective treatment, this poor man felt a bit faint... But at the end he got on his feet and gave us a standing ovation."
"There's always going to be the show where someone stomachs it as much as they can and then they leave. But that's generally a rare occurrence - it's not a nightly occurrence."
The reports haven't been putting people off - the show sold out its entire season in Adelaide, Brisbane and a month-long run in Sydney.
The play is recommended for people over 15 years, with the Canberra Theatre website warning the show, "contains loud noises (inc. gun shots), bright and flashing lights, smoking, pyrotechnics, smoke and haze effects, simulated violence, adult themes and scenes which some audience members may find distressing".
1984 is showing at Canberra Theatre Centre July 25-29. Tickets at canberratheatrecentre.com.au.
