2024: Lord of the Flies

 

 

 

Lord of the Flies by William Golding adapted for the stage by Nigel Williams.  Canberra REP July 25 – August 10, 2024.

Reviewed by Frank McKone
July 26

Directed by: Caitlin Baker and Lachlan Houen
Voice and Performance Coach: Sarah Chalmers
Set Designer: Michael Sparks OAM
Lighting Designer: Chris Ellyard; Sound Designer: Neville Pye
Costume Coordinator: Antonia Kitzel

Cast:
Ralph – Joshua James; Jack – Ty McKenzie; Piggy – Winsome Ogilvie
Simon – Lily Willmott; Roger – Robert Kjellgren; Sam – Brandon Goodwin
Eric – Zoë Ross; Maurice – Alex Wilson; Henry – Phoebe Silberman
Perceval – Tara Saxena; Naval Officer – John Stead; Bill – Caitlin Baker

Canberra REP have been brave to take on Lord of the Flies with a young cast who have produced a worthy result.  It is an exercise not only in giving up-and-coming actors an opportunity to gain experience in a substantial work, but in providing us all with a reminder of the possibilities and the weaknesses of human society in the real world.

Golding’s novel is an allegorical fiction – that is, it is a story which parallels real life.  It works well in that form because while reading and turning pages (or screens), our imaginations visualise what is happening, our feelings are engaged in response, and our intellect makes the connections between the fiction and fact.

On stage the designers and actors do the imagining for us.  We see and hear what’s happening.  Our feelings are as much engaged in responding to how effectively the staging and acting is done, as they are in response to the story; while our intellect may catch on to some of the meaning as the action goes on regardless, outside our control.  

Adapting Golding’s story for stage, unfortunately, results in long periods of young people yelling at each other, without enough of the character development and variety of volume and intensity levels which I remember imagining when I first read the novel as a teenager soon after it was published in 1954.

The value in Canberra REP presenting Lord of the Flies is the strength of the allegory and our need to come to terms with the truth that we humans are lost on our Island Earth, and have never learned to manage intransigent ‘leaders’ who tell us to go back to where you came from; who manipulate us into ritual dancing which turns into ritual killings; and who steal the fire from those who would be responsible citizens.

Though I can’t say I exactly ‘enjoyed’ Lord of the Flies, I can say that there were some dramatically strong points, such as the deathly silence as it was realised that Lily Willmott’s Simon was dead; and the anguish expressed in horror by Joshua James’ Ralph at the very end of everything.  

And though there was a laugh at John Stead’s Naval Officer berating the British boys for not behaving well as British boys should, it didn’t take much imagination to realise that there’s no-one out there to come and rescue us on Planet Earth.

So REP’s production of Lord of the Flies is certainly worthwhile going to see.

©Frank McKone, Canberra