These Theatre Thoughts

  photo credit Johan Persson Whether it was a set text for GCSE, a vaguely remembered classic that we read in the past, or a favourite novel that is re-read over and over again, we all know, or are at least aware, of Lord of the Flies. This production of William Golding’s terrifying tale of the decay of civilisation played out by school boys has been adapted for the stage by Nigel Williams (Class Enemy, Trial Run, Sugar and Spice), and it is not the Lord of the Flies we thought we knew. This is clearer, deeper, and much, much darker (if such a thing is possible) than ever before. There are some excellent modern twists to this story including the use of a selfie stick to get a survivor’s group photo (although sadly, the image can’t be posted to Instagram because there is no 3G on the island on which the group has crashed), and they work well, pushing the story into the 21st century, and asking questions about what is happening in the world, and could it be any worse than crash landi...