Talk about an Orwellian experience. Godlight Theater Company is one of the more inspiring stories in the New York theater world. They started out struggling to make work in a church basement; 10 years later, under the direction of Joe Tantalo, they’ve started to garner attention and awards, to get their name out there, and to raise their heads a bit above the pack.

This month, the company was set to open its production of “1984” at 59E59, but just days before it opened, Big Brother ordered the show closed. The rights for the show, which they thought they had obtained, were denied by the Orwell estate. The company was set scrambling, seeking simultaneously to undertake a legal battle and mount a new production.

The result: Godlight’s “A Clockwork Orange,” Anthony Burgess’s tale of a dandyish killer reconditioned by the state, which opens this week.

The tricky process of getting rights for a production has hamstrung many a small company – rights are expensive, and those granting the rights are quick to snatch them back if deeper pockets make an offer. But Mr. Tantalo and company thought they had kept their noses clean, having the blessing of the adapter, Alan Lyddiard, and an agreement with Mr. Lyddiard’s agent.

Godlight’s negotiations over the text stretched back to 2002, and they had been prepared to produce it fully a year ago. When Synapse Theater beat them to it (the rights company apologized for the mix-up), Mr. Tantalo postponed. But in the interim, a commercial producer had gotten interested in Orwell’s story. And though the potential production wouldn’t use Mr. Lyddiard’s adaptation, the Orwell estate and the commercial producer were still able to stop the Godlight production.

The company was already well into technical rehearsals on “1984,” so all the costumes, the live television feeds, and the bulk of their set had to go. The props and costumes from their earlier production of “Clockwork Orange” were supposedly in storage in New Jersey – but had been accidentally thrown out. They have had no choice but to mount a stripped-down production, financed largely from Mr. Tantalo’s own coffers. Instead of playing the flashy, trendy trip familiar from Kubrick’s film of the novel, the cast wears simple black outfits and performs on a white square of floor.

In a way, Mr. Tantalo says, his group has gotten lucky. Forced to soldier through an ugly situation – scuttling work, budget, and health to get a show up in six days – Godlight has learned a lesson in doggedness. On opening night, Mr. Tantalo’s body revolted, knocking him out with an illness severe enough to keep him away from the theater for a week. But Tuesday night he was hunched in his chair, baseball cap firmly in place, watching his actors perform with no hint that they’d only had a week of rehearsal. “It’s incredibly energizing,” he said.

And there’s a happy ending – of sorts. His champion, 59E59’s Executive Director Peter Tear, has extended the show to the end of February and has helped them secure invitations to both the Edinburgh Fringe and the Seoul Festival.

Until February 27 (59 East 59th Street, 212-753-5959).