The opera is set in London, the chief city of Airstrip One, one of the provinces of Oceania.

At the Ministry of Truth the workers assemble for a Hate Session against the enemies of Oceania (Hate! Hate! Hate!). The Inner Party members lead the Outer Party members in venerating the image of the Party’s leader, Big Brother, which appears on a giant telescreen, then all take up the national anthem (All hail Oceania!).

Winston Smith, an Outer Party member, gives voice to his hatred of Big Brother and the madness of Doublethink (War is Peace! Freedom is Slavery! Ignorance is Strength!). Back at his desk, Winston sets to his assigned tasks, which are delivered by a new office girl, Julia. His orders are to revise official records so that Big Brother and the Party are always on the correct side of history. Winston chats with his fellow workers, Parsons and Syme, both of whom relish their duties. Parsons extols Big Brother’s provision of all that a citizen might desire, even though he asks Winston in vain for a sharp razor blade, while Syme describes his fondness for the malleability of Newspeak, the official Party language (The beauty of Newspeak, sir!). O’Brien, Winston’s superior and an Inner Party member, arrives and questions Winston somewhat mysteriously about his loyalty to the Party.

At home that evening in his flat, Winston begins a diary of his thoughts in a recently purchased notebook, careful to position himself outside the view of the omnipresent telescreen (A place to think for myself). He falls asleep, half drunk on Victory Gin, and wakes the next morning to the shrill commands of the Gym Instructress emanating from the telescreen (Hands at sides, citizens!). Parsons and his children, enthusiastic members of the Young Spies, burst in on their way to Victory Square for the hanging of a Eurasian prisoner of war.

The crowd in Victory Square is milling about in anticipation of the afternoon’s Hate Rally and hanging. Various groups are present: Prole Children reciting nursery rhymes (London Bridge is broken down), the Young Spies taunting and setting fire to an old beggarwoman (Die, blind hag!), a prole Pub Quartet singing a sentimental love song (It was only an ’hopeless fancy) and Julia parade (We pledge our lives to chastity). Just as the prisoner is hanged, a rocket bomb falls nearby and bodies litter the scene.