Tim Robbins and his Actor's Gang theatre troupe returned to Northeastern this fall with the regional premiere of Robbins' adaptation of George Orwell's 1984 at the Center for the Arts. This is the fourth year in a row that Robbins' presence has been felt on Northeastern stages. In 2006, a Northeastern team participated in the Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project, performing Robbins' stage adaptation of the film of the same name. In 2005, the University welcomed the Actor's Gang in its Boston premieres of two plays, The Guys and The Exonerated. And in 2004, during the Boston premiere run of the war play Embedded, the company was in residence on campus, offering artistic workshops for students.

Robbins hopes the campus setting of these performances makes theatre especially appealing to students. As he notes, "Theatre is not going to survive if we don' t find ways of attracting younger and younger audiences." Year after year at Northeastern, he's doing just that.