On Thursday 14th June, girls from Year 7, 8 and 9 immersed a sold out audience into the world of William Goldings Lord of the Flies. The production was adapted by Mr Rowlands-Roberts and Miss Sanderson, alongside members of the cast, and was designed to encapsulate the essence of the original story but with all female characters.
The story told the tale of a group of young woman who become stranded on an island and have to rely upon their survival skills in order to keep going. As the play progresses, the children congregate into rival factions, and their version of society breaks down into savagery. To highlight the rivalry between Jack and Raff, the production was performed in traverse with the audience on either side. Set in the 1950’s, the story also deals with the issues of power, betrayal and what happens when a society breaks down.
This was never going to be a light-hearted night of theatre. What it proved to be was something quite profound which allowed every performer to act with utter conviction and total commitment for the entire duration of the show. Movement sequences were inspired by the work of Matthew Bourne and the set used a combination of scaffolding and camouflage netting, enhanced by Mr Mathews dynamic lighting.
Amongst all of the exemplary performances, particular mention must go to Cara Vogels who played Jack with a frightening intensity, to Grace Stuart who played Raff with heart felt passion and to Claudia Wolf who played the put upon Piggy with such charm that many audience members were left crying at the plays conclusion. As Mrs Elphinstone said it was a breath taking production . A privilege for those of us lucky enough to have watched it.
The girls gave an extraordinary performance which was challenging, moving and shocking. Congratulations to all those involved on such a wonderful production.
