New take on a classic tale
An adventurous new stage version of William Golding's popular novel Lord of the Flies is being staged at Montgomery High School next week.
Adapted by local actress and writer Donna Lythgoe and directed by her husband Jim Byrne, the Montgomery Theatre Arts version breaks with the tradition of an male cast and features several girls in its cast.
Initially trained as an actress, Donna has also been writing for a couple of years and has had some material produced on Radio 4.
"William Golding's novel
illustrates his pessimism about man's nature and fate," said Donna.
"He reflected later, that the novel was born out of his years of
teaching and close observations of the boys he taught.
"Despite the 40s image of the fairer sex, if Golding had
experienced teaching girls, he would have realised that we all have a capacity for savagery, and that the subjects of gang mentality and the struggle for power, are just as rife in the females of our species.
"This is why I think Lord of the Flies, is just as relevant for girls.
" The original adaptation in 1995 by Nigel Williams, was for a boy's grammar school. I couldn't find another version for a mixed cast, so I decided to write it myself.
"The play's setting is ambiguous – war and the atomic age – but the main themes of loss of innocence, mob rule, order and chaos are still as current today as ever."
Former actor Jim Byrne, who met Donna whilst working
together at M6 Theatre Co and is now in charge of productions at Montgomery, said: "What's
different about this production is that Donna has adapted it for the stage, and included parts for girls.
" Somewhere in our research, we found out that when Peter Brook was developing the novel for film he had intended to use girls and, in fact, the mother of one of Donna's close friends, revealed that she had been "cast" as a main part, only to be told that they had decided to stay with an all boy cast.
"Another difference is that we have invited some primary school pupils to also be involved.
"I have been impressed with the way many of our local primary schools are placing a lot of focus on producing high quality pieces of drama, and I certainly feel that Montgomery has benefited from the skills those students have developed."
* Lord of the Flies by Montgomery Theatre Arts at Montgomery High School, Tuesday and Wednesday from 7pm.
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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