Richmond Shakespeare Presents LORD OF THE FLIES

William Golding’s Lord of the Flies kicks off Richmond Shakespeare’s Season 26 Friday October 18, 2024 and runs Thursday - Saturday evenings at 7:30p and Sunday afternoons at 2p through November 10, 2024 at Dominion Energy Center’s Gottwald Playhouse. A special artoberVA pay-what-you-will preview performance will take place on October 17 at 7:30p in association with CultureWorks.

"Lord of the Flies is the perfect piece for us to revisit as a society. We're thrilled to bring such a compelling story to life with such a vibrant team of artists." remarks artistic director James Ricks. "This play and this story are more relevant today than ever; the ‘tribes’ the boys split themselves into darkly mirror the factionism we see in today's political landscape. Even though the story is from a different time, this production could be set in the very near future,” adds Lord of the Flies director Jeff Cole.

Evacuated from a war-torn world and marooned on a tropical island when their airplane crashes, a group of pre-adolescent boys find themselves battling for survival with no adults to help them. At first, the fair-minded and mild-mannered Ralph seems a natural leader, but as vestiges of civilization fall away, the more aggressive Jack takes control. Jack organizes the boys into a tribe of hunters, searching for pigs to kill and eat and, more alarmingly, watching for the Beast - a malevolent force that the boys believe is stalking the island.

Gradually the frightened youngsters slip from civilized behavior into red-blooded savagery. They battle with inner demons and external fears, with the weakest and most vulnerable at the highest risk. Ultimately, driven by a primitive bloodlust, childish “games” lead to tragic consequences and Golding’s timeless fable exposes the Beast that is in us all and debunks the myth of childhood innocence.

Tickets for William Golding’s Lord of the Flies are on sale now. Visit www.richmondshakespeare.org for more information and to purchase tickets.

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