”Lord of the Flies” at Leeds Playhouse and on tour review – ‘visceral and at times disturbing’

If you’re familiar with William Golding’s original novel (available on all good GCSE curricula), you’ll remember that the main characters – a bunch of pre-pubescent boys stranded on a desert island after a plane crash – don’t come out of it well. Which is putting it mildly. The premise is this: when adolescents are suddenly dropped into uncivilised surroundings and put under extreme duress, how will they act? Will they work together politely and efficiently to establish a harmonious, rules-based order? Or will they go feral, pop a pig’s head on to a stick and turn on each other? Well, guess. Tcha. Kids, eh?

So English Lit students will know going in that this co-production from Leeds Playhouse and Belgrade Theatre Coventry – which updates Golding’s novel to the 21st century – was never going to be a light, fun, uplifting night at the theatre (come on: its themes are tribalism and the dark side of human nature, set against the background of nuclear war). And so it proves. However, despite the 12+ age guidance, under Amy Leach’s direction it’s a surprisingly suffocating, visceral and at times disturbing experience.

Leach should be credited for not diluting the material in any way. In fact, at one point, she ups the ante and goes the full Tarantino (there will be blood, and lots of it). Later, she stages a particularly intense scene by bathing the actors in red light and having them move in slo-mo. John Biddle’s sinister sound design effectively underscores the action, while Max Johns’ set – which includes a line of towering black tropical trees and ferns at the back of the stage – is an Eden Project biodome gone horrifyingly wrong.

Whereas the characters in Golding’s novel were privileged white boys, Nigel Williams’ script cleverly and necessarily makes them relevant for today. The young and diverse cast – some of whom are fresh out of drama school – includes a partially sighted actor, two deaf actors and a neurodiverse actor. Standout performances come from Adam Fenton who is moving as Simon, and Jason Battersby who turns Roger into a smirking and creepy sociopath. Whenever he’s on stage, you can’t take your eyes off him, largely because you sense the rage bubbling under the character’s surface and fear what he might do next. Best of all, though, is Sade Malone as Ralph whose acting experience (she has a longer CV than the others, including television work) really shows. She holds the centre together.

And, occasionally, she needs to because there are issues. At times, it’s unsettling to view the chaos unfolding on stage – but it’s contained chaos. At others, you wonder if things are about to spiral out of control for real, which drags you out of the story. When actors are shouting off stage, it’s hard to hear dialogue being spoken on stage, and it suddenly feels exhausting and confusing (although, to be fair, one assumes that a descent into savagery would feel exhausting and confusing, so perhaps that’s what Leach was going for). And the production is unbalanced with a long first half and a short second half – yet, ultimately, it never seems like two-and-a-bit hours in the theatre.

Overall, this is a (literally) full-blooded production powered by raw young talent who, at the curtain call, looked bruised, battered but strangely exhilarated. I knew how they felt.