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| Evidence of a Crash - Pre-Performance, the wreckage (Credit: Isabella V.B) |
In a normal theatre, it is easy to tell when the play begins. The lights drop, perhaps there’s music to set the mood, and the curtain rises across the stage. Not so in the bright, early summer light at Regent’s Park’s Open Air Theatre. People visibly jolted at the start of Friday night’s production of Lord of the Flies, and I’m unashamed to admit I was one of them. Everything was big at the beginning – big noise, big smoke, and a huge, wrecked British Airways plane that drew the eye from the moment you walked into the arena. In seconds, though, it became almost claustrophobic, smoke from the wreckage blinding everyone lucky enough to be close to the stage. Engrossed in a chilling play such as this, it was easy to forget that the late afternoon sunshine would fade into darkness, and with it seemingly all the light in the world.
From the fore, the boys – for the actors are simply that, more than half of them making their professional debuts – are forced into an athletically charged piece, Ralph (Alistair Toovey) entertaining with handstands, and Jack (James Clay) and Roger (Matt Ingram) swinging through the mangled set like the savages they eventually become. Nobody is left untested; however, every member of the cast is put through their paces in exhausting movement sequences that are deliberate, yet probably the weakest part of the play – bringing a slightly secondary-school drama to the otherwise almost perfect performance.
From the public-school, highly strung Jack, leader of the school choir and prefect who dissolves into a strangely demonic, almost regressed infant, king of the savages, to his adversary, Ralph, too kind to be a leader, but too angry to let it all go, the children are left on their own to fall into the worst parts of human nature, the stubborn, angry, humiliated parts which are so carefully hidden from the light of day, until they are given free reign.
It is perhaps most noticeable in Roger, beautifully acted by Ingram, the outsider from the school of ‘nowhere’, plugged into his headphones and certainly looking like the oldest there, who has become a chilling, manic and demented boy with wild eyes and a sick disposition,. Even as the drama unfolds, you get a sense that Roger isn’t quite there – both psychologically and socially. Less of an outcast than Piggy (George Bukhari), but still on the fringe because he steps into the gang after everyone else is introduced, he is just as lost as the rest of the boys, no matter how old he seems.
That is the beauty of this adaptation. Flies is usually student fodder, the book that children hate at GCSE; but this is something I doubt anybody could walk away from with dislike in their hearts. The story has been told so many times that it sparks knowledge from a passing reference, but this is different. Yes, we are presented with a group of children – for the actors are simply that, forced into an adulthood destined to fail from the start, but Williams’ adaptation is explosive – literally, with the opening of the second act unimaginably blinding and typically, theatrically savage. It appeals to the audience, whatever their age, because this is a show based on the shades of grey that everyone must face, at least once in their lives.
Lord Of The Flies: Runs through June 18th 2011.
Star Rating: ★★★★★
Fantastic review! It sparkles with feeling, empathy and intelligence. I really enjoyed your Roger analysis and 'not quite there' is a simple and terrifying summation of his mental frailties. What did you think of Piggy? Have to admit I found him annoying - where in the book (although I read it a long time ago), I recall feeling nothing but sympathy. How did you feel when he died?
ReplyDelete=D Thanks!! It's definitely one of my top productions - at least in recent times, and I reckon it showed in the barely-restrained gushiness of it all... (I'm determined to get a word into the dictionary, "gushiness" might well be that word, haha)
ReplyDeleteMy Roger analysis definitely stems from my utter fascination with him as a character - I can't really explain it, but there's definitely something about him that completely confounds me, and I genuinely believe that Matt Ingram had that captured in a way that made it easy. And creepy. Definitely creepy.
Piggy isn't a good character for me. He's always irritated me, and to be honest, I found that this creation of Piggy did the same. Not to spoil it for anyone, but what happens to him in the end definitely comes out deserving - he's kinda like Hurley in LOST, but instead of wondering when he'll start to lose weight, you're wondering if he'll ever disappear entirely, just because... agh, he's frustratingly adult for a little boy.
And his reliance on the Conch definitely grated on me this time around. I was almost giggling when Roger dealt with that. (Hm, I'm thinking it all comes back to Roger in the end... perhaps it should have been heavier Roger VS Piggy than Jack VS Ralph...)
When he died... I'll admit, I was very torn between watching the two scenes going on at once, and the lower one was winning... but the time that he actually fell/was pushed... I think as far as I was concerned, the sadist in me won, and I was up there with the savages, cheering and vomiting a little bit at the fact he'd just fallen about half a mile down a cliff.
... That was an utterly vile description. Sorry :)
I was definitely most impressed with the use of the staging though - the set was just so well dressed, and I didn't stop smiling all the way through at the thought that they were kicking the hell out of the Plane!