Flies at Shoreditch Town Hall

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An exceptional cast of BRIT school actors and alumni will star in the long-awaited world premiere of Charlie Josephine’s Flies.  Following the critical success of Josephine’s trail-blazing I, Joan (The Globe), the acclaimed writer will once again disrupt the narrative and challenge convention with their bold new play, inspired by the classic William Golding novel Lord of the Flies.

Co-produced and co-commissioned by Boundless Theatre and Shoreditch Town Hall, Flies will be brought to life by Afriya-Jasmine Nylander, Annabel Gray, Ellie-Rose Amit, Louisa Hamdi, Pearl Adams, Rosa Amos and Willow Traynor, with most of these young actors making their professional debuts in this production.  It is designed by Cat Fuller (The Sweet Science of Bruising, Theatre Royal Bath; Romeo and Juliet, Bristol Old Vic) and directed by Julia Head (Romeo and Juliet, Bristol Old Vic; Massive, Audible; Wild Swimming, FullRogue), who is the Artistic Director of FullRogue, Company Director of YoungSixSix and an Associate Artist at Bristol Old Vic.

Flies is an explosive take on the male gaze and how it continues to impact young women.  It’s about girls being looked at by boys.  It’s about hitting puberty and being smacked by sexism: the power and the shame, the pleasure and the fear that flies around your body when you’re constantly being looked at.  Questioning where they can find joyful and safe spaces that are free from sexual objectification, this electric one-act piece explores how the male gaze permeates the stories we tell and how we tell those stories.  Imagining a life free from the patriarchy, Flies dares to envision a truly feminist future for everyone.   

Charlie Josephine is an actor and a writer who is passionate about making honest, visceral theatre.  Particularly focussing on stories that centre working class women and queer people, Josephine’s work includes: Bitch Boxer, Soho Theatre; Massive, Audible; and I, Joan, The Globe. Josephine is this year's resident writer at Headlong Theatre and is also an associate artist at the NSDF.  They’re currently under commission at the RSC, Headlong Theatre and NT Connections.