Lord of the Flies

Lord of

The Year 12 Theatre Studies class presented William Golding’s story, Lord of the Flies, adapted by playwright Nigel Williams in Semester 1. The play, written in the early 1950’s, contains themes that are still relevant for a contemporary audience; anarchy versus democracy, loss of innocence, civilization versus savagery and good versus evil. The play’s themes are undoubtedly dark but notwithstanding, the play is rich in symbolism, and class discussion of the meaning of the symbols, characters’ motivations, workshops and rehearsals enabled the students to explore their characters, their interactions with other characters and to question Golding’s reason for writing the story. The students were responsible for various stagecraft areas and both evening performances were well attended. The play presented the all-male cast with a number of challenges, such as some students changing roles half way through rehearsals due to illness, choreographing movement sequences, complex make-up application during the interval, and how to create the illusion of two ‘real’ fires on stage. All challenges were overcome and the actors, while enjoying playing the role of savages, initially found it difficult to sustain their role as it conflicted with the way they relate to others, which augurs well for both our school and society in the future. Ms Marg McPhee

of the flies