A new stage production of William Golding‘s Lord of the Flies will be performed at the Arts Centre Melbourne (State Theatre), from 5th to 9th April 2017, after a comprehensive audition process that finally cast 23 boys from across Victoria to form the ensemble cast.
This new adaptation of the popular novel has been developed by prominent British choreographer and director, Sir Matthew Bourne, through his contemporary Dance/Theatre touring company, New Adventures, and Re:Bourne, the charitable arm of the company. The production is adapted and directed by both Bourne and Scott Ambler, who also serves as choreographer.
Critics have praised its UK production. The Sunday Times (UK) called it, “a vividly effective piece of theatre”, whilst The Independent, London, said, “Ballet haters should be prepared to have their prejudices blown away. This is real theatre worth travelling miles to see”. This production will be an Australian exclusive.
Lord of the Flies was first published 60 years ago and remains an important piece of literature to this day. In Re:Bourne’s theatrical adaptation, the boys are stranded not on a deserted island, but in a deserted theatre. Following the novel’s cue, the boys develop their own rules – without adult supervision – before order breaks down and the story builds to an electrifying ending.
The Young Ensemble cast were discovered through an Arts Centre Melbourne community outreach program and open workshops that ran from October 2016. The cast is a mix of boys and teenagers ranging in age from 10 to 25 years old, with the average age of the ensemble at 14 years 7 months. Some have little to no dance experience, and one is in a metal band. Cultural backgrounds include boys from Singapore, Afghanistan and the United States.
Victorians cast in the production hail from Leongatha, Shepparton, Swan Hill, Mildura, Beaconsfield and Cranbourne as well as metropolitan suburbs like Blackburn, Box Hill, South Yarra, Brunswick West, Preston, Reservoir, Hoppers Crossing, Edithvale, Dandenong North, Oakleigh, Hampton Park, Hampton, Mentone and Bentleigh East.
Professional dancers from both New Adventures in the UK as well as professional dancers from Australia round out the cast to deliver performances filled with raw physicality and emotional intensity.
Director Sir Matthew Bourne, OBE, has been creating and directing dance for musicals, opera, theatre and film for nearly 30 years. He is the only British director to have won the Tony Award for both Best Choreographer and Best Director of a Musical. As the UK’s most successful choreographer and director, Bourne has won multiple awards, and was the the first recipient, in the arts category, of The British Inspiration Award. He was awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire) Services to Dance in 2001.
His contemporary Dance/Theatre touring company, New Adventures was founded in 2002, and its charitable arm, Re:Bourne, was founded in 2008. Re:Bourne develops projects, training, courses and productions that find and inspire the next generation of dance-theatre professionals. It has created over 800 workshops, 50 projects and worked with over 15,000 young people and emerging artists in the UK and overseas.
New Adventures has previously produced for the stage Edward Scissorhands, Dorian Gray and Sleeping Beauty, as well as new productions of popular favourites from former company, Adventures In Motion Pictures, like Nutcracker!, Swan Lake and Cinderella.
For tickets and more details about the show, head to the official website.
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