Lord Of The Flies

Written by William Golding
Adapted by Nigel Williams
Directed by Timothy Sheader
Liverpool Playhouse
2nd - 6th February 2016

Reviewed by Colin Serjent
Photograph by Johan Persson

The most impressive aspect of this adaptation of William Golding's classic novel about how people can suddenly become bestial given adverse situations - in this case a group of schoolkids being marooned on a desert island - is the stage design, a smoking wreck of a plane with many suitcases spilt out of it, while opposite is a torn off wing which serves as a ramp for the cast

As for the one-dimensional performances by the young actors and often repetitive aspects of what was being staged, it left me bored and, to use a common phrase, would have made Golding, who died in 1993, turn in his grave. It's hard to believe that a reference was made about the puerile TV gawp, I Am a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!

This probably encapsulated the downmarket nature of this production.

Another example of the cringe factor was one of the characters mimicking another lad having an epileptic fit. Some in the audience laughed at this baseness.

Fortunately one of my friends, who is an epileptic, was not in attendance, or she might have stood up and screamed at the stage in protest.

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