Lord of the Flies: William Golding’s modern classic is brought to ‘thrilling life’

Anthony Lau’s “searing and starkly stripped-back” new staging of “Lord of the Flies” brings William Golding’s modern classic to “thrilling life”, said Gareth Carr on WhatsOnStage.

The tale about a group of boys stranded on a desert island after a plane crash has been a staple of the school curriculum for decades. But it’s a story that remains “timely, disturbing and brilliantly insightful”.

It’s hard to remember a time when the Chichester Festival Theatre stage has been as “abrasively treated as it is in Georgia Lowe’s brutally sparse but incredibly effective designs”. Illuminated by the “harsh fluorescence" of Matt Daw’s lighting, the “unforgiving wasteland” is a fitting backdrop as Golding’s characters “disintegrate into animalistic savages”.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Lau’s “spare and powerful” revival of Nigel Williams’ adaptation encourages us to “reflect afresh upon how quickly the everyday can take a plunge into the darkness”, said Fiona Mountford in The Telegraph. The bare stage is supported by a “wonderfully ominous surround-sound design” from Giles Thomas. “If there are moments when it is not entirely clear what is happening, the momentum of this rapidly unfolding dystopia is unmistakeable.”

From smoke and flashing lights to “litres of stage gore”, it’s a “hyper-busy” production, said Mark Lawson in The Guardian. The entire interval is needed to “wipe down” the stage before the second half. “But rather than cutting to the emotional core of the story”, said Dave Fargnoli in The Stage, “all this abstraction has a distancing effect, and the overall result feels messy”.

There are some jarring inconsistencies, said Carr on WhatsOnStage. It feels “odd”, for example, that a “handy electric cordless drill” appears as a torture instrument when the boys “are only just about able to light a fire”.

But the production is anchored by an “extraordinary” cast. Sheyi Cole is “quietly commanding as the natural-born leader Ralph”, while Alfie Jallow is “equally engaging” as Piggy, injecting the “well-meaning conscience of the group” with a “poignant light-heartedness”. In all, it’s an “uncompromising and fearless” staging that confirms Golding’s landmark work of literature is still as “unpleasantly relevant” today.

Until 11 October at Chichester Festival Theatre, cft.org.uk