Reviews for Lord of the Flies
Lord of the Flies
William Golding meets Quentin Tarantino
-Financial Times
Brilliantly evoked...see it and weep
- Time Out
Terrifying and exhilarating production...heart stopping
- The Guardian
Visceral production...thrillingly choreographed
- The Independent
Brilliant - Stunning production...superb ensemble...skilful direction, if you see nothing else, see this.
- Manchester Evening News
This is a superb production of which everyone involved can be proud
- The Scotsman
Kilburn Times
Review by Roxanne Blackelock at Unicorn Theatre, London (2009)
Lord of the Flies, a celebrated novel by the
Nobel Prize-winning author William Golding, has been brought to the stage in
this fantastically energetic production.
The boys struggle to come to terms with the lack of usual rule and order. Games and teasing turn into murder and mayhem; apparently childish power struggles turn into matters of life and death.
We are forced to think about the nature of hierarchy, leadership and current political structures as well as human survival and morality.
Despite the class background of the boys and the fact that the novel was written over 50 years ago, the audience, filled with mostly school children on the opening night, seemed to be deeply affected by the show.
The hilarity, shock, tears, and sad silences from the young audience indicated that the story still has a relevant impact on today's teenage generation.
The cast gave funny and moving performances and were incredibly agile.
The set was amazing and versatile, yet simple .
British Theatre Guide
Review by Sandra Giorgetti at Unicorn Theatre, London (2009)
Pilot Theatre are currently touring Nigel Williams' adaptation of Golding's disturbing novel about a group of boys stranded on a deserted island.
From the point when the beautifully sung opening hymn changes strikingly into the powerful physicality of the plane crash, you know it is only the beginning of a rough ride. Director Marcus Romer has us lunging from one emotional extreme to another: one minute calm, the next an asylum of unchecked nascent testosterone.
But of course the point is not about emergent machismo but about the barbarity that underlies human nature and the vulnerability of the mores that keep it in check. The scene where Ralph and the others have joined in the high jinks initiated by Jack and his tribe, and the speed with which the action is transformed into the fatal persecution of Simon, reflects the rapidity with which civilisation can disintegrate.
Davood Ghadami is Ralph, the boy elected as leader on a mandate of shelter- and fire-building and making the most of it until rescue comes. Ghadami expresses Ralph's transition from boy to adulthood with such sincerity that we really feel for him in his bewilderment as things come crashing down around him; Ghadami's Ralph is tragic not pathetic in his defeat.
Ralph's nemesis Jack is played by Mark Knightly who takes his character from the spiteful Choir Prefect to the maniacal caveman dictator. Knightly is energetic and imbues Jack with the zeal and determination of those who know they are right because they cannot not contemplate the alternatives.
Dominic Doughty is wonderful as the physically inept Piggy who shows his true strengths in the second act. His rendition of Piggy's unflinching support of Ralph, born of desperation and loyalty and his conviction that "what's right is right" is genuinely moving.
The boy Simon is clearly placed as the outsider by the writing. Tony Hasnath's affecting performance gives him sensitivity without making him weak, and his physical skills provide one the shows most haunting tableaux when his beaten body falls and is left to hang upside down.
One of the great strengths of this production is the music - composer Sandy Nuttgens has provided a musical backdrop that evokes places and times as well as emotions and does much to heighten our reactions. The lighting design by James Farncombe also makes an extremely effective contribution.
Truth be told, the story has been pared down somewhat to accommodate the cast size and there are some casualties such as the sub-theme of responsibility for the "littluns", but this play maintains the thrust of the original novel and packs as strong a punch. There is also something freakily scary about the novel's prescience - who could have imagined the unthinkable acts that children are capable of perpetrating - and that it could speak with such contemporary relevance some forty years after its publication.
Leicester Mercury Wed 28th Jan 09
William Golding's Lord of the Flies may be more than half a century old, but the novel has lost none of its power to pack a punch.
In the hands of Pilot Theatre, Nigel Williams' stage adaptation remains provocative, accessible and enthralling.
American TV series Lost may have millions of fans with its drama of the factions between a group of aircrash survivors on a remote island, but Golding was exploring these themes with much more brutality with this tale of stranded schoolchildren 50 years ago.
It's a classic study of society with and without rules, of bullying and control, of the need for structure and organisation, of peer pressure. Under the direction of Marcus Romer, the fleeting moments of humour are handled well, while violence and bullying are horrifying.
An excellent ensemble of young men brilliantly portray the boys: Dominic Doughty's belittled Piggy, Davood Ghadami's well-intentioned leader Ralph, Tony Hasnath's spiritual tragic Simon and Mark Knightley's hateful Jack are all convincing.
The multi-functional set is inventive and used well, filmic underscoring adds to the atmosphere and the overall feeling is as oppressive as Jack's regime.
One wonders where one's own allegiance would lie in similar circumstances: organise for survival, turn savage or bid for control?
It's physical, exciting, only two hours including interval and utterly gripping. Go see.
WhatsOnStage Midlands Jan 09 **** Four stars
As I skirted the beautiful glass fronted semi-circle of Leicester's multi-million pound, state-of-the-art theatre, the overriding thought in my head was: is the world a very different place to the 1954 into which William Golding released his allegorical novel?
It is patently obvious that we haven't learned the lessons that Golding intended us to; horrors at least as visceral and unfathomable as those described in the book populate our papers, on a daily basis. The question is, does the tale warrant a retelling or is our society desensitised, as the press would have us believe?
The story for those who haven't read the novel, follows a group of British schoolboys after their plane crashes on an island, having been sent from England to escape a war. Initially they treat their island paradise as a game, but upon realising that there are no adults to preside over them, they soon split into factions and give in to the more primal side of their nature, falling into savagery, madness and eventually murder.
Written during the height of the Cold War, the book operates on a deeper level as an allegory for the conflict between civilisation and wildness, and the schism between morality and immorality. So, how has it stood the test of time, and how have Pilot Theatre brought such a well known book up to date?
Very well, it turns out. Beginning with the plane crash as a choreographed piece of dance/action, that made the hairs on my neck stand up, and ending with a sobbing Ralph alone on stage, the production was never less than clever and often breathtaking. The set consisted of a movable section of the plane's fuselage, which through a series of pivots could act as a hill, the jungle, the camp and a number of other locations.
The actors, all much older than the characters, captured the descent from childish excitement into madness perfectly. Dominic Doughty was particularly strong as the tragic Piggy and Lachlan McCall brought a disturbingly psychotic edge to his portrayal of Roger. There were a couple of wonderful moments where sections from the book were turned into monologues, with Ralph describing his childhood bedroom, and later, a commentary of Piggy's death.
Of course, in any stage adaptation you lose elements of the original source material and I personally would have liked to have seen more of the interaction with the "Lord of the Flies" itself. But this is a minor gripe over what was a skilful and pacy retelling of an old favourite. I remember being terrified of the story as a child and despite the half-century which has passed since its inception, the core events are still just as shocking. Is "Lord of the Flies" still pertinent? Yes. It has to be, and probably even more so now. The rapid degeneration of the human soul when the vestiges of society are stripped away is a warning that we should all heed.
- Jamie Mollart
Evening Standard 8th October 2008
Anyone who's tried to drag a teenage boy to the theatre knows what
an uphill task it can be. The productions that really resonate with the YouTube generation War Horse, Monkey, His Dark Materials tend to be a bold
fusion of music, animation and live performance. With lots of gore. To
celebrate its 10th anniversary, Pilot Theatre Company has revived its
award-winning production of Lord of the Flies, Nigel Williams's
interpretation of William Golding's classic novel. A group of
schoolboys are marooned on a deserted island after some unspecified
nuclear event. Without adults or rules, their fragile sense of order
begins to collapse. As their games take on a more sinister
significance, this once well-behaved group of kids turns into a
bloodthirsty, murderous tribe. First published in 1955, Lord of
the Flies remains the definitive account of descent into teen barbarism it is still referenced today by artists from Stephen King to U2, The Simpsons and Lost. When Williams's stage version premiered in 1998, it was declared Tarantinoesque. But,
10 years on, how will it stand up in an era of reality TV, where
contestants are queuing up to be castaways? Will it still be as
heart-stoppingly terrifying? I caught the production early on in
the tour in York (where Pilot is based), and you could hear a pin drop.
A terrific multimedia interpretation, it is half physical theatre, half
choreography. The opening plane crash is tremendously powerful the
boys leap and clamber over the wrecked plane which dominates the stage
like a giant bird of prey. All the set pieces are here the
hunt for the beast, the heartbreaking scene where they steal Piggy's
glasses to make fire underscored by trippy video projection and a
high-powered techno and drum & bass soundtrack. But it never
overshadows the subtle performances by the eight-strong adult cast.
Particularly good are Dominic Doughty as Piggy and Davood Ghadami as
Ralph. Teen bullying is still immensely topical. Pilot artistic director Marcus Romer was invited on to Radio 4's Today programme to talk about the production. But
for adaptor Nigel Williams, the fraught relationship between Jack (the
bully) and people-pleaser Ralph is also a vital political allegory.
"They are natural collaborators who fall out, like Trotsky and Stalin.
It's about how government works." Evening Standard see article here
Ten years on and Pilot Theatre's ground breaking stage version of Lord of the Flies is as powerful as ever. Lighting and sound are updated and as cutting edge as one owuld expect with this adventurous company. Set in a future shrouded by war, William Golding's allegorical story tells of a group of boys on a tropical island and their descent into savagery. They are the only survivors of a plane crash.
Jack, a choir prefect, gets nastier as the story develops. This is a suitably strident performance from Mark Knightley, with intense fist clenching and posturing. Dominic Doughty provides a moving contrast as Piggy, the bespectacled fat boy who thiks like an adult, or as an adult should, but cannot get the other boys to listen to him.Good to see Tony Hasnath in this production. A prodigious talent, he plays Simon, a gentle, perceptive boy who is the first to be killed.
Marcus Romer directs with clout and pace, a touch too much pace for the few reflective moments. The nightmare scenes are suitably terrifying, but still allow the imagination to make them even more powerful. The boys' movements, devised by Hannah Priddle, tell much about their state of mind, both individually and collectively.
Rescue comes from armed soldiers barking orders and not an unarmed naval officer, as happened in the book - school groups will doubtless be asked by their teachers to make something of that and they will do so with enthusiasm. Pilot Theatre's popularity with students is legendary.
The Stage
The Bermuda Sun January 25th 2009 From the International Festival of Performing Arts Bermuda 2009
'From utopia to jungle prison'
Whether you 'got' the subtle allegories of human nature embedded in this play really didn't matter in this thoroughly entertaining production of Lord of the Flies.
The first-class casting by Pilot Theatre convinced us that we were actually there - on a deserted island with a group of schoolboys stranded after their plane crashed, leaving them adultless and 'free' to govern themselves.
Very quickly the scene turned from a utopian land of sea and sand to a dark jungle prison - emphasised by dramatic lighting and loud 'techno' music (compared to the choral music the play begins with).
The convincing way things slowly began to escalate out of control for the boys was shockingly realistic as alliances are formed, mini-wars are waged and the boys struggle for leadership and ultimately, survival.
The soliloquies of Simon (Tony Hasnath) and Ralph (Davood Ghadami) were particularly powerful as the despair in their voices had the audience captivated.
Although the play was free of many props, one that shocked play-goers was that of a dead pig that has been speared by some of the boys.
The realistic dummy pig had its 'blood' smeared on the boys' bodies and faces and it's head twisted off and mounted on a stake.
Intermission directly followed the grisly pig decapitation scene and when the lights came on shock and horror was written all over the audience's faces as if they had actually witnessed some kind of ritual animal killing.
When the second half of the play continued it turned darker still as the boys turned on each other - letting their greed and fears take over.
Anyone who has heard of Lord of the Flies invariably knows that a character called 'Piggy' meets his Waterloo at some point in this play.
While audience members were almost 'waiting' for that moment, the way it all happened still managed to shock and have you sympathising for little Piggy.
In fact the way that actor Dominic Doughty managed to convey his character as an annoying little boy yet still elicit sympathy from the audience when he is bullied (and killed) was impressive.
Northern Echo 19 Sept 2008
The programme for this production makes much of the relevance of William Golding's story of schoolboys turned savages. The murder of children by other children, coupled with today's teen gang and knife culture, make the play's themes of power, bullying, identity and violence important ones to air in front of the young audiences that Pilot Theatre Company sets out to entice into the theatre.
Then again, you can ignore the subtext and just become absorbed in Nigel Williams' stage adaptation that transfers the book to the stage with all the physicality expected from director Marcus Romer and the Pilot team.This tenth anniversary production is staged with Pilot's usual cinematic feel, from its opening credits to the pulsating soundtrack.
The Cheltenham Echo
First staged by the RSC in 1995, Yorkshire based Pilot Theatre Company has made Nigel Williams' stage adaptation of William Golding's novel very much their own.Touring for the fourth time, the production is tightly directed and visually magnificent. The constant movement of the set, the atmospheric lighting, visual projections and raw soundtrack combine to create a powerful theatrical experience.
The company, working very much as an ensemble, produce an intensely energetic physical performance. Wonderfully choreographed, the action takes full advantage of the astonishing set based around the wrecked fuselage of the crashed aeroplane which marooned the boys on the deserted island. As the boys descend into rivalry, savagery and killing, Director Marcus Romer elicits some fine performances from the eight-strong cast of adult actors. Of particular note were Davood Ghadami as Ralph, Dominic Doughty as Piggy and Tony Hasnath as Simon.
The
killing of children by other children is a theme taken up in the
programme with parallels drawn to today's gang culture and knife crime,
ensuring the contemporary relevance of Golding's moral allegory. The
audience, mainly comprising local teenagers, were clearly enraptured by
the play and moved by the powerful production. For many, on perhaps
their first visit to the theatre, the evening may prove to be
unforgettable
The Independent
This was first staged by the RSC in 1995 but it is the Yorkshire based Pilot Theatre Company that has made the play its own. Now on its fourth tour it is an aggressively-choreographed piece of physical theatre, combining clever lighting and a raw techno soundtrack to create, sometimes with extraordinary effectiveness, the nightmarish vision of chaos. The play is performed by and eight strong cast of adult actors, whose physical presence on stage is breathtakingly powerful. Philip Dinsdale as Jack gives a skilfully measured performance, and Neville Hutton's portrayal of the doomed and tragic Piggy is beautifully judged. At a time when so many new plays are little more than TV scripts confined to a stage, this is real theatre, shamelessly demonstrating its unique strengths. - Brian Wilson
- Metro 28/9/02
Lord of the Flies is back on tour and still packs a powerful punch...and is frighteningly recreated in the Lowry Centre...the striking set is dominated by the skeletal cross section of a plane and the audio-visual effects are quite stunning. Marcus Romer skilfully directs this hi-tech, high energy production. A strong cast is headed by Glyn Morgan as Ralph, Philip Dinsdale as Jack and Neville Hutton as Piggy are particularly good in what is ostensibly an ensemble piece. There are uncanny contemporary parallels in this powerful work which provides much food for thought long after the curtain call. Certainly the highest praise must be that this athletic and exhilarating production kept the predominantly youthful audience transfixed for two hours. - Natalie Anglesey
- The Stage 4/10/01
The physical energy here is astounding and Marcus Romer who directs steers a confident course between the telling and quiet moments of reflection and the set pieces of explosive activity. This is a production that delivers one hundred percent, with no punches pulled. You can't fail to be impressed - and to feel several shivers going up the spine as the evil erupts. Terrifyingly good stuff
- Teletext
This successful production has been touring for the lat three years and still does the book a great service...portrayed with imagination and cinematic atmospherics
- Yorkshire Post, 11 October 2001
...brought terrifyingly to life by the talented Pilot Theatre Company - from the opening credits to the third time the cast returned to acknowledge the thunderous applause, everyone in the theatre was nervy and adrenaline filled...excellent cast with awesome acrobatics giving verve to Golding's novel
- Sheffield Star
Check out the Guardian - Tuesday 9th October, and see the education section for an excellent two page article on the production
Click here for the Guardian article
- The Guardian
From the breathtaking cinematic sequence you are under no illusion that this production of Lord of the Flies will excel all others. The Pilot Theatre Company production under the direction of Marcus Romer is a stunning multi media interpretation of William Golding's classic constantly exploring darker and at times disturbing images of schoolboys marooned on a desert island. This gritty and immensely gripping translation by Nigel Williams pulls no punches and takes issues such as bullying and personal identity head on leaving little to the imagination. With impressive use of projection and evocative musical underscoring this production strides forward to its almost horrific conclusion. There are quite exceptional performances from welsh actor Glyn Morgan as Ralph, Neville Hutton as bespectacled Piggy and Philip Dinsdale as psychotic Jack. This mesmeric touring production delivers all that is promised in its publicity and is suitably accessible to students studying its contents for GCSE. This is theatre at its awesome best and not to be missed. Roger Lawrence - review from the show at Swansea Grand Theatre
- South Wales Evening Post
...beautifully executed by the young, dynamic and imaginative Pilot Theatre Company...Here is an athletic lesson in ensemble playing, the fine acting is supported by a technical tour-de-force as the dark side of human nature is explored with the aid of the latest techno sound effects, projected images, brooding background music and what ought to be an award winning set, the cutaway fuselage of a crashed aeroplane. The young people of Taunton who packed the auditorium obviously know a good thing when they see it, as their vocal enthusiasm at the end demonstrated. For some this will have been their first visit to the Brewhouse, but it will have left a taste they won't easily forget. - Rod Hancox
- Somerset County Gazette
It was acted with triumphant, dramatic success.
- Taunton Times
Pilot Theatre Company run riot with it in a mesmerising performance at the New Wolsey Theatre.
- The Evening Star
"Kill the beast" the young hunters cry. But how can they when the beast is within them, haunting them with memories that are slipping away from reality? Pilot Theatre's treatment of Golding's treatise on the madness and savagery of man explodes with movement and menace.
- East Anglian Daily Times
... whether you choose to intrepret Lord of the Flies as a dark and profound comment on human nature, or see it simply as a rip-roaring adventure story, you will find yourself captivated and exhilarated by this pumping, powerhouse production from the Pilot Theatre Company.
- BBC Online
Production of classic novel enchants audience with its quality...with a simple but creative set and a string of strong lead performances - Neville Hutton's performance as Piggy was particularly strong as he tries to maintain a sense of order on the island. Young and old alike will not fail to be impressed by the way the novel translates to the stage. - Andrew Hebden
- Telegraph and Argus - Bradford
Set, lighting, and sound (free CD with the programme) are terrific; the crashed plane wreckages gives a flexible set energetically manhandled by the cast; the increasingly mindless hunt scenes - first for pigs, then for people - are disturbingly convincing. Neville Hutton is a touching Piggy, Philip Dinsdale, a wolfish Jack, and Glyn Morgan, a tormented Ralph, the failed leader. Simon Kerrigan and Ryan Simons are very appealing as the twins Eric & Sam. The pace of the show sweeps you away. Its grim lesson shows how close we are to the beast within.
- The Oxford Times
An intense production that draws on all the senses: it is visual, visceral, engrossing and highly recommended.
- Daily Information
This interpretation of the story won my vote.
- The West Briton
In a fast-paced, visually engaging production, Pilot Theatre Company bring the story out from the novel and present an enthralling adventure.
- Reading Evening Post
Pilot Theatre Company's emotionally charged interpretation, adapted for the stage By Nigel Williams, remains true to the novel whilst offering an exciting and contemporary production.
- The Bucks Herald
A packed, teenaged house spent an uncomfortable evening watching their stage peers go native with all the inevitable ugly consequences. The tale of the eight schoolboys, plane-wrecked onto an island, and the disintegration of their micro-society was played out with terrifying realism. Glyn Morgan had a most difficult part to play as Ralph, and he carried it off most convincingly. He had to be strong and just and yet still be overwhelmed by the evil intent of Jack and his team. There was just the right amount of innocence and naivety about his strength and hinted that he was not long for leadership.
- Theatreworld Internet Magazine
William Golding's profound and powerful exploration of human behaviour.
- Basildon Evening Echo
There is one way of filling a theatre and that is to stage a classic novel from the school syllabus. The touring Pilot Theatre Company manage the feat at the Gateway with its adaptation of of Williams Golding's classic Lord of the Flies. But it's another to keep a youthful audience quiet and transfixed and this the company also achieve admirably.
- Daily Post - Cheshire & Merseyside
Universal themes of power, bullying, identity and violence came through which seemed to parallel the world in which we live. Pilot addressed these themes head on and presented them in a directly relevant way. Pilot's evocative performance was reinforced by the amazing use of light and music, which made it even more convincing. A wonderful performance by Piggy, played by Neville Hutton, evoked sympathy from the outset, and made me laugh and cry throughout the portrayal. The set stayed the same throughout, and there was a minimal use of props, but this interpretation of the story won my vote.
- The West Briton Truro
This energetic retelling of William Golding's classic novel, familiar with everyone who has studied it at GCSE or A Level, is simply ingenious.
- Chester Chronicle
Strong performances from Jack,Ralph and Roger brings William Golding's masterpeice to life in an energetic approach.
- Warrington Guardian
Acclaimed director Marcus Romer has brought back his triumphant production
- York Evening Press
It is a powerful production: raw, disturbing,visceral - and highly recommended
- York Evening Press
Dynamic, thrilling, visceral theatre -five stars
- Teletext
Director Marcus Romer pulls together design, lighting, costume and music into a gripping portrayal of an adolescent society breaking down
- Northern Echo
Engaging and visually stunning...hugely inventive, dramatic and creative vision...
- Yorkshire Post
Violence and disorder and power: Three words that are played out with menace in Pilot Theatre Company's exhilarating performance of William Golding's classic novel. His story of a group of school boys stranded on a desert island and turning into a murderous tribe is now a well-known one; and the theme of a group both metaphorically and literally tearing itself apart is not unusual, but this production brings a new edge to it: you were left in no doubt of the terror that one person may wield over another, whether a so-called child, or adult. "Sometimes the beast takes the shape of a man." And indeed it was with this production. Commanding performances were given by all the cast members in what, due to the sheer physical demands, must be a gruelling play to perform. As the play proceeded and the actions of Jack and Roger became gradually more extreme and violent, so their movements across the stage became more bestial. They crouched and crawled, twisted and sprang, only becoming fully upright to re-inforce their authority over the other characters. The impression of their progression away from our idea of a boy into a mixture of a soldier and a tribal warrior was enhanced by the gradual descent of their appearances. Jack began with his school uniform fully intact, whilst by the end he had only a piece of cloth around him, his school hat had become a military beret and there was barely a patch of flesh uncovered by a grisly mixture of blood and dirt. At first glance, the set, which was based on a plane wreck, appeared to be rather unforgiving, but proved surprisingly versatile: two large pieces of metal, one similar to a human-sized hamster cage with the other resembling a surfboard on a rotational base, were used with imagination throughout the play and never seemed awkwardly placed. The 'cage 'acted as a shelter, with the divide in characters often being played out both visually as well as verbally, with Ralph, Piggy and the twins seeking its protection whilst Roger, Jack and Maurice roamed on top, asserting their domination. It was also refreshing to see a play which placed as much emphasis on how sound could be coupled with the script as on the visual impact of the production. The metallic nature of the set was used as a sound- board, with the growing atmosphere of anarchy and feverishness emphasised by rhythmic beats on the set, thrashed out by the cast. This was used intermittently to begin with, increasing in frequency and ferocity until reaching a crescendo at pivotal moments, such as the pig hunting and subsequent killing. At times such as this it seemed the audience were witnessing a fanatical cult, dancing frenetically and drunk on their own conquests. Perhaps this production's greatest achievement lay in its portrayal of the group's gradual descent into anarchy, which you didn't fully realise until it was far too late. In the first scene Ralph, full of wonder, carefully rolled up his trousers and bathed in his freedom. By the end of the play, he was cowering on the ground and you were left with very little idea of how one turned in to the other so quickly. An intense production that draws on all the senses: it is visual, visceral, engrossing and highly recommended.
- Times Reviews
It feels as if Pilot's Lord of the Flies has never been away. The company made Golding's classic story its own six years ago and it has since become something of a staple for students and young audiences new to the theatre. Yet rather than resting on his laurels, director Marcus Romer has tinkered with the mini-masterpiece to ensure that this latest touring production is as fresh and imaginative as the first night. The cast comes to the piece fresh too and their enthusiasm shines through each and every one of their energetic, inspirational performances as we watch a bunch of eight schoolboys turn into savages. As Ralph, Andrew Falvey tries to hold it all together but eventually buckles under the strain of Roger's (Matt Connor) rival, more brutal leadership and the boys' appalling treatment of Piggy (Jesse Inman). There is barely time to draw breath here as the production is constantly on the move. The cast stomp, dance and charge around in a tribal manner while navigating Ali Allen and Marise Rose's terrific plane crash set, while Sandy Nuttgens' music and sound design - along with James Fanrcombe's lighting - thumps away like an ever-increasing heartbeat...Six years down the line, the show has lost none of its power.- Dave Windass
- The Stage
This is an exceptionally brilliantly staged production making full and inventive use of the wreckage of the aeroplane which deposited them on the island, and magnificently and athletically performed by a very talented cast. Very highly recommended, unless of a nervous disposition!
- Theatre World
Pilot Theatre bring out every nuance of the novel's grim prophecy. The production blends a fantastic set including the burnt-out husk of the plane - with sound, light and music which leaves the audience truly thunderstruck!
- Basildon Evening Echo
There were noteworthy performances in this production, particularly the little twins, Eric and Sam, (James Andrews and James Daley respectively)
- The Western Mail
IT'S back! It won a M.E.N. Theatre Award three years ago for Best Touring Production and now, on the 50th anniversary of the publication of William Golding's award-winning novel, Lord Of The Flies returns to The Lowry where tickets are selling like hot cakes. Adapted for the stage by Cheshire-born writer, Nigel Williams, Marcus Romer's visually exciting production vividly brings Golding's masterly tale to life in a superb example of ensemble theatre. If you haven't read the book or seen the film, the story is about the adolescent survivors of a plane crash on an uninhabited island. At first the schoolboys think they've landed in paradise, but, as the story takes a darker turn, they resort to tribal warfare in their struggle to survive and dominate. This remarkable parable illustrates the use of fear in bullying, with its accompanying violence, and has at its core the survival of the strongest and the destruction of the weakest. With its powerful, dark undertones, it's a chilling morality lesson for all of us.
- Manchester Evening News
ensemble playing and character co-ordination are key issues in a text such as this, and the entire cast cannot be faulted here. There was light and shade, fear and humour, rise and fall in pace, mood and tension; climax and bathos as the narrative moved inexorably on. Director Marcus Romer is a very, very able and creative man indeed
Read the full review
- Lancaster Guide
This is an extraodinarily powerful piece of theatre.
- British Theatre Guide