Growing up feral
It’s a tale of bloodthirsty savagery and it’s turning the Centrepoint Theatre stage on its head. Carly Thomas sat down with some of the cast from Lord of the Flies.
never makes for a good plot. Reality starts to kick, chaos gets a boot in, and the descent into a bloodthirsty tale of savagery turns into a downwardly spiralling nosedive.
Ella Hope-higginson is one of the professional actors. She is taking on the role of Jack and says the story is timeless.
‘‘The thing that I think is cool about this play is that there is a slow dawning in the story.
‘‘It isn’t like ‘bam’ something happens and everything changes, but over time you just slip into things and then when something major happens. You realise where you are, rather than really conscious choosing. In this time in the world, with everything that is happening – global warming, Trump and all of the madness – it seems to ring true.’’
The audience is watching a petrie-dish view of humanity and the young cast is finding it fascinating figuring out their character’s motivations, instincts and compulsions.
Hope-higginson says there is something quite cool about characters that do the worst thing all the time.
‘‘There is something about that which is kind of liberating because it is way easier than doing the right thing. It’s making deals with the Devil and yeah, you’ll definitely pay for it, but it feels so good at the time.’’
Jeremy Hunt is one of the actors toeing the line for the local community and says the intensity of rehearsals means he is getting to really look at his character, Bill.
‘‘It’s been great being able to take more time to think about the character and seeing how much of an input the actors have in the process.
‘‘At high school, it’s a lot of doing what your teacher tells you to do, but with this, it’s interesting to see how much more of a collaborative thing it can be.’’
Kingsford-brown says the beauty of a production like this was providing opportunities to those in Manawatu’s community who want to grow creatively in a supported, yet rigorous learning environment.
‘‘Melding professional and community actors in this way benefits both Centrepoint and the local performers who have been with us on this journey. Hopefully, we will see a good few of these budding young performers on our professional stages and TV screens in the near future.’’
It’s not an easy task though, figuring out the logistics of a muchlarger-than-normal cast, many of whom are in the early-teens bracket.
Comfrey Sanders, who plays Simon, says that yes, it can get a bit mad at times.
‘‘But there is something very cool about having young people around. They are playing the kind of age that we are and so they just do things so naturally, whereas we have to think about it. It’s just nice having them around. They have so much energy.’’
Leighton Stichbury, who plays the much-loved Piggy, agrees, saying ‘‘it makes me feel like not the most silly one. I’m usually the one that seems to act like I’m in a ball pit all the time, but now there are others that are more childish than me’’.
The set is another huge challenge, and it’s fair to say the theatre has changed it up for this production. Many who go to watch the show will no doubt stop at the doorway to take it all in, like an out-of-breath pause at the top of a hill.
Theo Wijnsma is the designer behind the traverse set idea that has turned the theatre on its head.
‘‘An automatic reflection state is created by doing this. This state can also trigger challenge and competition.
‘‘The audience also read and view the show through each other, so seeing what others are picking up on will make them pick up on things as well.
‘‘The audience are outside the world looking in on it.’’
And it is ultimately a world that is harsh and full of fear.
A world that butts up uncomfortably with our own, but is somehow just so damned riveting to watch.
●➤ Centrepoint Theatre’s production of Lord of the Flies runs until August 5.