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The Tale of two Tribes
Lord of the Flies
**** IT’S been 61
years since William Golding published
Lord of the flies,
the deeply analytical novel of the human social condition.
Back in the fifties the possibility of any
widespread discussion or awareness about our inner psychological
workings would have been scarce. Now after years of
programmes like Big Brother
and I'm a Celebrity
and our watching televised meltdowns most of us are aware at what can
happen. That’s a problem then in resurrecting this novel
for the stage because the shock value of this disturbing story is
somewhat tame now in comparison to when it first came to be in 1954. What it does have though is some great
performances from a young cast and they are all played out on an
inventive and impressive stage set.
The first thing that impresses is that stage set
by John Bauson. A section of broken plane fuselage dominates the
stage space with a pile of broken aircraft parts and luggage heaped
around a rich jungle setting. It’s the kind of detail that you would expect in
more permanent installations such as those seen at a theme park. It’s
that impressive that it seems something of a waste that it’s in full
view as you take your seats. It would have been far more impressive to
have somehow had it revealed it from the black with the The story revolves around the crashed plane on a
tropical island with a group of teenage survivors who descend into
primal disorder and violence. The group eventually is spilt into two distinct
units, the hunters and the beach dwellers.
Leader of the beach crew is Ralph (Luke Ward
Wilkinson) desperately trying to maintain some level of protective
compassion and order on the island. With him is what might be considered
the meek and mild. There’s Piggy (Anthony Roberts) who delivers a
powerful and long speech on the mental decay of the survivors. Fellipe
and Thigo Pigatto as the twin brothers Eric and Sam, often helpless to
know what to do as the chaos rises. Diminutive David Evans as the small boy Percival
who often drew long ` aahs’ from the audience as he tidily folded
himself up and hid in a suitcase. Finally there is Simon (Keenan Munn
Francis) the visionary boy who loses his life in the ritualistic
violence. As is often the case it’s the dark characters
that have the most scope to perform. Freddie Watkins as Jack, chief of
the Hunters, revels in his manic blood rituals and his angry power
struggle within the group order. Matched in energy are his spear
wielding followers Henry (Dylan Llewellyn) Bill (Yossi Goodlink),
Maurice (Michael Ajao) and Roger (Matthew Castle) who all created a real
sense of threat to the order. This adaption by Nigel Williams is not without
its issues. Directed by Timothy Sheader the action goes into several
slow motion and choreographed sequences which might be acceptable on
film but felt a little too contrived in comparison to the fine
individual performances. There is also the freezing the action and
dialogue of one group who were meant to be in another location and then
switching it the other group. With the set creating such a strong sense
of location and with the switchover sometimes being a few lines the
transition often felt awkward. With the novel being one of the 100 most
challenged books of the 90s the story remains a firm favourite for
discussion in the education system and this excellent ensemble
production provides a great opportunity for this young cast to develop
and shine. To 07-11-15 Jeff Grant
03-11-15
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accompanying thundering air crash score and FX.