UK's LORD OF THE FLIES Begins Performances Tonight

A talented group of 22 young dancers aged 10 - 23 from across London will take to the Sadler's Wells stage to perform in Matthew Bourne's production of Lord of the Flies, from today 8 - 11 October 2014, alongside professional dancers from New Adventures.

Sadler's Wells Associate Artist Matthew Bourne and his company New Adventures have become household names with their hugely successful dance theatre productions, including Nutcracker!, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake.

Lord of the Flies is a thrilling new show inspired by William Golding's classic dystopian novel. As a group of schoolboys find themselves abandoned in a deserted theatre, they start to make their own rules and create their own civilisation, before order breaks down and the story builds to an electrifying climax.

Each venue on the UK tour of the production has cast local young performers to take part in the show. At Sadler's Wells, New Adventures Ambassadors and the theatre's Creative Learning team worked with 900 boys and young men in primary and secondary schools, colleges, youth groups and community organisations across London between May and July. 130 workshop participants were invited to the final selection audition on 19 July, at which the cast of 22 young performers was selected. The group, aged between 10 and 23, have varying levels of experience including some with very little dance training.

The selected performers who will appear at Sadler's Wells are: Jared Irving (10), from Islington; Toby Winfield Robinson (10) and Meshach Henry (17) from Sutton; Daiki Matsuoka (11) from Barnet; Ross Black (11) from Leatherhead; Malachi Ashley Welch (12) from Richmond; Nate Leung (12) from Peckham; Samuel Varley (13) from Radlett; Cameron Macgregor (14) and Joey Barton (17) from Southwark: George Littell (14) from Banstead; Brett Sewell (15) from Redhill; Sean Patrick Barton (15) from Elmbridge; Ed Munro (16) from Stoke Newington; Sean Monroe (17) from Thatcham; Tarik Msaouri (17) from Enfield; Alexander Young (18) from Chelmsford; Sam Baskett (18) from Roehampton; Francis Lovehall (19) from Croydon; Ricardo Walker (19) from Hackney; Aston Joshua (21) from Ilford; and Kurt Nagy (23) from Wandsworth.

Jared Irving says: "I've enjoyed meeting new people and learning new dances. I like the movement we do and also making new friends. I've never been in a production before so I am really enjoying it."

The non-professional performers join the cast of New Adventures dancers, including Sam Archer as 'Ralph', Ross Carpenter as 'Maurice', Luke Murphy as 'Sam', Sam Plant as 'Piggy', Philip King as 'Eric', Danny Reubens as 'Jack' and Dan Wright as 'Roger'. Making their New Adventures debut's in this production will be Layton Williams as 'Simon' and Jack Hazelton.

Chilling, beautiful and hugely entertaining, Lord of the Flies is choreographed by Olivier Award-nominated Scott Ambler, and features set and costume design by Olivier Award-winner Lez Brotherston and music by Terry Davies. It is adapted and directed by Matthew Bourne and Scott Ambler.

Due to demand, an extra preview matinee performance has been added to the run at Sadler's Wells, at2pm on Wednesday 8 October (please see listings information for more details).

To post a comment, you must register and login.