Pilot Theatre Company presents

Lord Of The Flies

September - December 2004

Winner of the Manchester Evening News Award for Best Production On Tour. Faithful to William Golding’s vision, the production reveals the disintegration of a precarious civilisation under the harsh glare of the elements. Lord of the Flies has enjoyed great critical acclaim, playing to more than 200,000 people in over 35 venues during the last four years. It is accompanied by a rich and varied educational programme.

“William Golding meets Quentin Tarantino” Financial Times

Marcus Romer, Artistic Drector:

 first read The Lord Of The Flies when I was 14 years old. I was perturbed by the dark imagery and I was scared by it. I genuinely did not know what was going to happen next. Since becoming Artistic Director for Pilot, I had wanted to bring this work to the stage and I am very pleased to be able to recreate our successful production which has been touring for the last three years.

I was always fascinated by how and why the boys arrived on the island. Was the plane shot down or was it just an accident? What was the ‘passenger tube’ that Golding talks about? It was these thoughts that led to the design of the piece. The images of the crashed wreckage, ‘the scar that ripped through paradise’, was a potent starting point and a constant reminder of their past and their entry into this new world. The spirit of the island is evoked with the ever-present sounds that pervade the boys’ world. A sense of tragic beauty, man’s fall and ultimate descent are played out both visually and aurally with the interwoven soundtrack.

This is a stunning story. As a narrative it grips and drives to its climax. It has a very potent resonance to the world in which we now find ourselves. The themes of bullying, power and identity and violence are universal and we can all draw contemporary parallels. Pilot’s work addresses these issues ‘head on’ and presents them in a directly relevant way.