Warwick Academy’s 2013 School Production ‘Lord of the Flies’

By Hannah Marshall

Tickets are now available for the 2013 Warwick Academy school production, ‘Lord of the Flies’, showing November 27, 29 and 30h. Warwick Academy is the winner of the 2012 Best of Bermuda Award for “best dramatic production” for their rendition of ‘The Crucible’. This year’s production of ‘Lord of the Flies’ is guaranteed to leave you speechless.

‘Lord of the Flies’ is a novel by Nobel Prize winning author William Golding. The British Telegraph describes the novel as “a thrilling decent to horror”. In the midst of a raging war, a plane evacuating a group of British schoolchildren is shot down over a deserted tropical island. Main character, Ralph, is voted by the schoolchildren as their chief. He is a sensitive individual with a strong and unwavering moral grounding who sets out to lead the others in an attempt at rescue. The challenges the unsupervised children face in their hopeless situation causes many of them to resort to unspeakable savagery. Will the goodwill of a few be enough to keep them alive or will gang rivalry, peer pressure, and the bloodlust of rebellious children lead them to their ultimate demise? The audience will be on the edge of their seats as this dilemma unfolds.

Director Chris Jones is well known for his productions, which masterfully deal with sensitive topics such as prostitution, crucifixion and Nazism. In the words of this year’s lead, “Mr Jones has a knack for presenting mature, thought-provoking, and perhaps controversial content, in such a way that the overall image and message is delivered without the production being overwhelmingly gruesome or offensive.”

With performance dates just around the corner, rehearsals have become increasingly more demanding. For the well-rounded cast members, rehearsals focus on honing the performers’ acting skills, but their overall goal is to provide their audience with an extraordinary and noteworthy performance. Their collective goal each year is to strive to exceed the standard of their previous year’s performance, which loyal audience members would argue to be a near impossible task.

Previous Warwick Academy productions have been described as “not the average high school production”, and one audience member even wrote, “I felt as though I was in New York, watching a Broadway production”, a sentiment often heard by cast and crew. From this reporter’s inside sneak peak, this year’s production will not disappoint.

You do not want to miss Chris Jones’ unique take on the stage adaptation of Golding’s novel or the moving portrayal of Golding’s characters by this cast. This performance is bound to test your senses and make you question your inevitable empathy towards characters with less than savoury intentions.

This production is not to be missed.

Tickets are available at the Warwick Academy main reception or by phone at (441) 236 1917. Curtain is at 7.30pm. Tickets are $25 for the 29th and 30th. Gala Cocktail Party opening on the 27th, the tickets are $50 which includes two drinks, food and a silent auction and raffle prizes.