An all-female cast raises fascinating questions for this classic tale, but this production falters in delivering the answers.
The story of schoolboys stranded on an island and quickly degenerating into savages was written as an allegory for the nuclear age. It has been read for half a century as a potent comment on humanity’s essential primitivism, an argument that our veneer of civilisation is thin to the point of transparency.
But is it humans or actually men who are responsible for our violent instincts and resultant wars? The occasional female suicide bomber notwithstanding, wars and physical violence are overwhelming perpetrated by men. Would a group of girls behave in the same way? If they did how would an audience respond?
By casting only young women in this US-A-UM production, part of the Malthouse’s Helium season, director Kip Williams sets up a chance to explore the gender politics of a 20th Century classic, a fascinating and inviting prospect.
We walk in on an open stage where a group of nicely groomed boarding school girls are folding clothes and brushing hair, neatly dressed in pleated skirts and pretty blouses. The stage is set with heavy domestic furniture, a puzzling set-up as we know all the action is about to take place on a island. The girls begin a powerful thrumming against the wood, a paper plane is carried across the sky and we are there.
It is an excellent introduction and we have high expectations as the first words are uttered. The double bed, which dominates the stage, chests of drawers and table are soon put to good use in the creation of the island landscape and the conch shell, which becomes an important symbol, is given an amusing twist. Set designer Michael Hankin gives us creative, if crowded, design elements that speak directly to the text.
But the rest of the production falters in delivering fully either on the promise of the concept or the carefully constructed opening. The girls refer to themselves as boys and keep the male names. This may have been a condition of rights to Nigel Williams’ script but whether a choice or a necessity it is distracting, interfering with the very real issue of female bullying and potency, which should be at the heart of this production.
The persecution of Piggy and early posturing between the lead girls is well-played and believable for anyone who has observed the dynamics of girls’ schools. It was always going to be harder to sell the concept once the physical degeneration set in and the fascination with blood and power became a core element. It doesn’t happen. We start to feel we are just watching girls playing boys, rather than exploring the potential for violence within young women.
Good individual performances from some of the girls help us along. Eloise Winestock as Jack, the choir prefect and head of the hunters, is devastatingly familiar as the class bitch, setting up trials for her followers and delineating scapegoats and favourites. Stacey Duckworth, as the contained and tragic Simon, has a fine stillness and effective stage presence which will carry her far.
But this is fundamentally an ensemble work and the group does not deliver as whole. It takes fine attenuation to create a sense of chaos without simply being chaotic and Williams does not exert a firm enough hold over his young cast. Too often we are just watching a drama workshop in which everyone is acting to the hilt but no one is directing our attention or passing the ball.
Some of these voices are thin, there is much over-speaking and many lines are lost. Perhaps a larger theatre or better acoustics may have helped but it is still unsatisfying, and sometimes downright uncomfortable, to be bludgeoned with noise and action without satisfactory resolution.
Lord of the Flies remains a powerful work and it is good to see a cast of young women tackling it. The result is not bad but it is far from as good as it could be.
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
US-A-UM and Malthouse Theatre present
Lord of the Flies
By William Golding
Adapted by Nigel Williams
Directed by Kip Williams
Dramaturg: Maree Freeman
Set & Costume Design: Michael Hankin
Lighting Design: Nicholas Rayment
Sound Design: Nate Edmondson
Performed by Alexandra Aldrich, Zoe Boesen, Catherine Davies, Stacey Duckworth, Michele Durman, Emma Griffin, Fiona Pepper, Contessa Treffone and Eloise Winestock
Tower Theatre at the Malthouse
28 June – 14 July
