Review: The Nature Of Powerful Masculinity In LORD OF THE FLIES Is Considered With An Ensemble That Does Not Conform To Traditional Casting Expectations.

Saturday 27th July 2019, 7:30pm, Roslyn Packer Theatre

Kip Williams presents Nigel Williams' adaptation of William Golding's Nobel Prize winning LORD OF THE FLIES with a new take on casting. The story that considered the 'ease' of demise of civility and social accord along with the dangers of how masculinity is fostered holds a relevance for modern society 65 years after it was first published.

LORD OF THE FLIES, which for many years seemed to be compulsory reading for school students, centers on what happens when a plane load of children who are being evacuated out of England during an unspecified war are forced to survive without adult supervision when their aircraft crashes on a remote tropical island. Golding had these children as all male and coming from a range of schools that ranged from the elite private schools (known as public schools in England), mid-range private institutions and state-run education. Most of them, bar a group from a school choir, are strangers but still they easily revert to the childish and human desire to be seen to fit in, using the easiest form of bonding by picking on the person seen as different, in this case the plump asthmatic visually challenged "Piggy" (Rahel Romahn). A power play ensues when Piggy convinces new 'friend', the traditionally 'normal' fair haired standard build Ralph (Mia Wasikowska) to seek control of the survivors in opposition to the aggressive school Choir Prefect Jack Merridew (Contessa Treffone) and gradually primal greed 'wins' over the rationality and morality that makes civilization work.

Kip Williams, who has previously presented an all-male production of the work whilst studying at NIDA and an all-female work for Malthouse Helium and US-A-UM, has opted to fill all the roles with actors that do not identify with the characters they are playing. The 11 strong cast of young adults (Joseph Althouse, Justin Amankwah, Nxy Calder, Yerin Ha, Daniel Monks, Mark Paguio, Rahel Romahn, Eliza Scanlen, Contessa Treffone, Nikita Waldron, and Mia Wasikowska) represent a broad range of society with women, transgender non-binary, differently able, queer and people of color from a range of ethnicities. They potentially all have some idea of what it is to not fit the Anglo-Saxon, male-centric view of masculinity that existed in 1954 when the work was published and still exists, as evidenced by the majority of the leaders of business and politics in the western world. Removing the visual of the uniformity of Golding's world and also any chance to separate the children by class level, not wearing the uniforms implied in the text, the audience is forced to consider why these individuals pick certain groups whilst separating themselves from others and whether, with a contemporary mix of society as casted, would the outcomes be the same if the events were to occur in the current timeframe.

As with Kip Williams' other works, he has opted for a bare bones aesthetic to the point that Set Designer Elizabeth Gadsby initially presents a bare stage that seems still yet to have a show bumped in with equipment road boxes and scaffolding remaining on stage as the cast loiter while the audience files in to the auditorium. After a delightfully simple expression of the plane crash the 'set pieces' of backstage equipment come into play to represent the 'Castle Rock' mountain fort and a makeshift shelter. In a similarly simple fashion, Marg Horwell's costume design strips away any inference of class with the ensemble in casual clothes that are eventually degraded to represent the time spent on the island. The most significant elements of the work are however are the lighting and sound. At first the lighting seems as pared back as the set until night falls and a series of light tubes descend to separate the shore party and the lookout on the mountain. James Brown's composition and sound design initially forms a subtle soundscape but evolves adding ominous cello tones and darker tones as the situation devolves.

For all of Kip Williams' vision, this work, not helped by the somewhat dated and cumbersome text, fails to hit the expected mark. The text gives little scope for much character depth for the minor characters and it is only due to the skill of the more seasoned stage performers Treffone, Althouse and Romahn, that Jack, Piggy and Simon have any dimension. Contessa Treffone's expression of a puffed-up private school boy hungry for power is striking in her tone and physicality as she creates a relatively naturalistic performance. Joseph Althouse, a young man of Indigenous Australian origins who was recently seen in Angels in America, creates a similarly detailed character as he conveys Simon's softer nature that cares for the younger boys whilst also having a deeper philosophical mind, making it all the more tragic when his interesting character (and good performance) meets his awful end. The Iraq born Rahel Romahn's presentation of Piggy, whilst having a somewhat stilted speech, predominantly due to the script, is the only other performance to have any remote level of credibility as the perpetually nervous boy who, along with Simon, seems to have the only other sensible functioning brain that sees the need to retain order. It is expected that original group 'leader' Ralph would be another compelling character with the dimension the minor characters lack but unfortunately Mia Wasikowska presents Ralph with a unvaried mid-level energy that is far too underplayed for the Roslyn Packer stage, never giving any texture or honest emotion to the performance and giving no semblance of Ralph having any leadership ability. Her dialogue is stilted, reminiscent of the odd inflections common in Australian television drama series of the 1980's and 1990's and never shifts gear leaving Ralph understandably defeated by Treffone's solid presentation of rival Jack.

In a world where we are still battling toxic masculinity along with societies that feel like they are devolving with a self-serving focus, LORD OF THE FLIES does not seem that far away. Adults in civilized society are descending to a society ruled by ego and greed which has reverted to ruling by creating division and fear, just look at the political platforms of some of the world leaders. This work has an intriguing premise, but it feels like it still needs further exploration and development.

https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/whats-on/productions/2019/lord-of-the-flies

Photos: Zan Wimberley

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