William Golding’s

LORD OF THE FLIES

Adapted for the stage by Nigel Williams

A STUDENT STUDY GUIDE

by Anna Saggese

for the PLAY Conservatory production directed by Jonathan Dunski,

performances October 12-28, 2007, at N4th Theater, 4904 4th St. NW,
Albuquerque, NM.
 LORD OF THE FLIES
IS PRESENTED AT

N4TH THEATER IN VSA NORTH FOURTH ART CENTER

North Fourth Art Center is a contemporary art center with a social mission. Our independent nonprofit
name is VSA arts of New Mexico (VSA NM), affiliated with the John F. Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts in Washington, DC. Our center is dedicated to full accessibility in the arts for people of
all abilities, ages, cultures and income levels. Since 1981, we have focused on providing arts education
and exhibition opportunities for adults with developmental disabilities. Over the years the VSA Day Arts
Program has grown from serving three to five individuals each day to serving a total enrollment of nearly
200. Day Arts offers visual and performing arts classes in everything from Clay Building and
Introduction to Sewing, to Native American Art and Musical Theater.
North Fourth Art Center also provides outreach classes in the arts at community centers and for
organizations and programs throughout the city and offers evening and weekend programs on site, such as
Expressions, an art class for people with mental health concerns, and Arts Adventures, a program for kids
with Autism Spectrum Disorder. We would not be able to do all this without VSA AmeriCorps
volunteers. As an AmeriCorps site since 2000, every year we recruit an enthusiastic and talented team of
artists with and without disabilities who earn a stipend and an education award and who demonstrate the
exciting potential of the arts to build community.
In 2005-06 we renovated our building to become a fully inclusive art center. (Construction of N4th
Theater & Gallery was made possible through funding by the State of New Mexico Legislature and the
City of Albuquerque.) N4th Theater is a state-of-the-art, fully accessible 4,000-square-foot black box
theater that produces challenging and adventurous contemporary performing arts productions and events,
hosts three resident companies and serves as a community arts, culture and education resource.
Accessibility equipment includes an FM system that allows for audio description, translation and
amplified hearing, and an Oval Loop System that is permanently installed and can be used with either a
headset or a T-switch on a patron’s hearing aide. American Sign Language is provided for at least one
performance for each production and Braille or Large Print programs are available by request.
Programming for N4th Theater & Gallery includes contemporary, socially relevant, performing and visual
arts, featuring artists and targeting audiences not traditionally represented by mainstream arts
organizations. We are very pleased to be producing Lord of the Flies as an integrated conservatory
project. We strive to present arts and education opportunities that challenge people to think, acknowledge
responsibility and be encouraged to make a difference in the world.

VSA North Fourth Art Center

th
4904 4 St NW
Albuquerque, NM 87107
(505) 345-2872
N4th Theater & Gallery
(505)344-4542
www.vsartsnm.org

2
 Did you know that Lord of the Flies is a book, a movie and a play?

THE BOOK
Written by William
Golding
Written in United
Kingdom (England)
Year of First Publication:
1954
THE MOVIES
Adapted and Directed by
Peter Brook THE PLAY
Year of Production: 1963 Adapted by Nigel Williams
& Adapted in Wimbledon,
England
Adapted by Harry Hook
Date of First Performance:
Year of Production: 1990
December 3, 1992

What does it mean to “adapt” a book into a movie or a play?

When a book is adapted into a play or movie it changes literary devices. This means that
the story is no longer written for reading, it is written for performing. A playwright or
screenwriter must look at the overall story in the book and decide how he or she wants it
told. The playwright or screenwriter also gives each character words to say. This is
called dialogue. Instead of descriptive sentences that are in a book, there are stage
directions in a script that give the actor a clue to what the character is doing or feeling.
The challenge of the playwright or screenwriter is to keep the integrity of the original
story while adding his or her creative influence.

Compare and Contrast

In each adaptation of Lord of the Flies, the plot elements (what happens to whom and how) are
slightly different. For example, in the movie from 1990, the pilot of the boys plane is saved and
brought to shore.
One way to compare and
contrast stories is to 1990 MOVIE
Roger pushes Piggy over the cliff.
construct a Venn
diagram. Things inside Roger deliberately drops a
rock on Piggy.
overlapped circles are
similarities. Things that We do not see the blood
or dead body.
appear only in only one Piggy has
circle are differences. no glasses,
cannot see.
For example, consider
Piggy’s death in the book,
the movie, and the play. Piggy’s death is gory. The
blood and dead body is seen
You could make a Venn PLAY or described.
diagram that looks like
this.
Make your own Venn BOOK
diagrams to compare Roger drops rock intended for
other parts of the story. Ralph that ends up hitting Piggy.

3
A quick synopsis of Lord of
of the Flies (the book)…
During an unnamed time of war, a plane
carrying a group of British schoolboys is shot down over
the Pacific. The pilot of the plane is killed, but many of
the boys survive the crash and find themselves deserted on
an uninhabited island, where they are alone without adult
supervision. The novel begins with the aftermath of the
crash, once the boys have reached the island. The first two
boys introduced are the main protagonists of the story:
Ralph is among the oldest of the boys, handsome and
confident, while Piggy, as he is derisively called, is a
pudgy asthmatic boy with glasses who nevertheless
possesses a keen intelligence. Ralph finds a conch shell,
and when he blows it, the other boys gather. Among these
boys is Jack Merridew, an aggressive boy who marches at
the head of his choir. Ralph, whom the other boys choose
as chief, leads Jack and another boy, Simon, on an
expedition to explore the island. On their expedition, they
determine that they are, in fact, on a deserted island and
decide that they need to find food. The three boys find a
pig, which Jack prepares to kill but finally balks before he
can actually stab it.
When the boys return from their expedition,
Ralph calls a meeting and attempts to set rules of order for
the island. Jack agrees with Ralph, for the existence of
rules means the existence of punishment for those who
break them, but Piggy reprimands Jack for his lack of
concern over long-term issues of survival. Ralph proposes
that they build a fire on the mountain that
could signal their presence to any passing
ships. The boys start building the fire, but the
younger boys lose interest when the task
proves too difficult for them. Piggy proves
essential to the process: the boys use his
glasses to start the fire. After the boys start the
fire, Piggy loses his temper and criticizes the
other boys for not building shelters first. He
worries that they still do not know how many
boys there are, and believes that one of them is
already missing.
While Jack tries to hunt pigs, Ralph orchestrates
the building of shelters for the boys. The littlest boys have
not helped at all, while the boys in Jack's choir, whose
duty is to hunt for food, have spent the day swimming.
Jack tells Ralph that he feels as if he is being hunted
himself when he hunts for pigs. When Simon, the only
boy who has consistently helped Ralph, leaves
presumably to take a bath, Ralph and Jack go to find him
at the bathing pool. However, Simon instead walks around
the jungle alone, where he finds a serene open space with
aromatic bushes and flowers.
The boys soon become accustomed to the
progression of the day on the island. The youngest of the
boys, known generally as the "littluns," spend most of the
day searching for fruit to eat. When the boys play, they
4
still obey some sense of decency toward one another,
despite the lack of parental authority. Jack continues to
hunt, while Piggy, who is accepted as an outsider among
the boys, considers building a sundial. A ship passes by
the island, but does not stop, perhaps because the fire has
burned out. Piggy blames Jack for letting the fire die, for
he and his hunters have been preoccupied with killing a
pig at the expense of their duty, and Jack punches Piggy,
breaking one lens of his glasses. Jack and the hunters
chant "Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Bash her in" in
celebration of the kill, while Maurice pretends to be a pig
and the others pretend to attack him.
Ralph becomes concerned by the behavior of
Jack and the hunters and begins to appreciate Piggy's
maturity. He calls an assembly in which he criticizes the
boys for not assisting with the fire or the building of the
shelters. He insists that the fire is the most important thing
on the island, for it is their one chance for rescue, and
declares that the only place where they should have a fire
is on the mountaintop. Ralph admits that he is frightened
but there is no legitimate reason to be afraid. Jack then
yells at the littluns for their fear and for not helping with
hunting or building shelters. He proclaims that there is no
beast on the island, as some of the boys believe, but then a
littlun, Phil, tells how he had a nightmare and when he
awoke, saw something moving among the
trees. Simon admits that Phil probably saw
him, for he was walking in the jungle that
night. The littluns begin to worry about the
supposed beast, which they conceive to be
perhaps a ghost or a squid. Piggy and Ralph
fight once more, and when Ralph attempts to
assert the rules of order, Jack asks rhetorically
who cares about the rules. Ralph in turn insists
that the rules are all that they have. Jack then
decides to lead an expedition to hunt the beast,
leaving only Ralph, Piggy and Simon. Piggy
warns Ralph that if Jack becomes chief the boys will
never be rescued.
That night, during an aerial battle, a pilot
parachutes down the island. The pilot dies, possibly on
impact. The next morning, the twins Sam and Eric are
adding kindly to the fire when they see the pilot and
believe him to be a beast. They scramble down the
mountain and awake Ralph. Jack calls for a hunt, but
Piggy insists that they should stay together, for the beast
may not come near them. Jack claims that the conch is
now irrelevant, and takes a swing at Ralph when he claims
that Jack does not want to be rescued. Ralph decides to
join the hunters on their expedition to find the beast,
despite his wish to rekindle the fire on the mountain.
When they reach the other side of the island, Jack wishes
to build a fort near the sea.
 The hunters, while searching for the beast, find a
boar that attacks Jack, but Jack stabs it and it runs away.
The hunters go into frenzy, lapsing into their "kill the pig"
chant once again. Ralph realizes that Piggy remains with
the littluns back on the other side of the island, and Simon
offers to go back and tell Piggy that the other boys will
not be back that night. Ralph realizes that Jack hates him
and confronts him about that fact. Jack mocks Ralph for
not wanting to hunt, claiming that it stems from
cowardice, but when the boys see what they believe to be
the beast, they run away.
Ralph returns to the shelters to find Piggy and
tells him that they saw the beast, but Piggy remains
sceptical. Ralph dismisses the hunters
as boys with sticks, but Jack accuses
him of calling his hunters cowards.
Jack attempts to assert control over the
other boys, calling for Ralph's removal
as chief, but when Ralph retains the
support of the other boys Jack runs
away, crying. Piggy suggests that, if the beast prevents
them from getting to the mountaintop, they should build a
fire on the beach, and reassures them that they will
survive if they behave with common sense. Simon leaves
to sit in the open space that he found earlier. Jack claims
that he will be the chief of the hunters and that they will
go to the castle rock where they plan to build a fort and
have a feast. The hunters kill a pig, and Jack smears the
blood over Maurice's face. They then cut off the head and
leave it on a stake as an offering for the beast. Jack brings
several hunters back to the shelters, where he invites the
other boys to join his tribe and offers them meat and the
opportunity to hunt and have fun. All of the boys, except
for Ralph and Piggy, join Jack. Meanwhile, Simon finds
the pig's head that the hunters had left. He dubs it the Lord
of the Flies because of the insects that swarm around it He
believes that it speaks to him, telling him how foolish he
is and how the other boys think he is insane. The pig's
head claims that it is the beast, and mocks the idea that the
beast could be hunted and killed. Simon falls down and
loses consciousness.
Simon regains consciousness and wanders
around. When he sees the dead pilot that the boys
perceived to be the beast and realizes what it actually is,
Simon rushes down the mountain to alert the other boys of
what he has found. Ralph and Piggy play at the lagoon
alone, and decide to find the other boys to make sure that
nothing unfortunate happens while they play as hunters.
When they find Jack, Ralph and Jack argue over who will
be chief. When Piggy claims that he gets to speak because
he has the conch, Jack tells him that the conch does not
count on his side of the island. The boys panic when
From http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/lordflies/shortsumm.html
5
Ralph warns them that a storm is coming. As the storm
begins, Simon rushes from the forest, telling about the
dead body on the mountain. The boys descend on Simon,
thinking that he is the beast, and kill him.
Back on the other side of the island, Ralph and
Piggy discuss Simon's death. They both took part in the
murder, but attempt to justify their behavior as acting out
of fear and instinct. The only four boys who are not part
of Jack's tribe are Ralph and Piggy and the twins, Sam and
Eric, who help tend to the fire. At the castle rock, Jack
rules over the boys with the trappings of an idol. He has
kept one boy tied up, and instils fear in the other boys by
warning them about the beast and the intruders. When Bill
asks Jack how they will start a fire, Jack
claims that they will steal the fire from the
other boys. Meanwhile, Ralph, Piggy and
the twins work on keeping the fire going, but
find that it is too difficult to do by
themselves. That night, the hunters attack
the four boys, who fight them off but still
suffer considerable injuries. Piggy learns the purpose of
the attack: they came to steal his glasses.
After the attack, the four boys decide to go to the
castle rock to appeal Jack as civilized people. They groom
themselves to appear presentable and dress themselves in
normal clothes. When they reach castle rock, Ralph
summons the other boys with the conch. Jack arrives from
hunting and tells Ralph and Piggy to leave them alone.
When Jack refuses to listen to Ralph's appeals to justice,
Ralph calls the boys painted fools. Jack takes Sam and
Eric as prisoners and orders them to be tied up. Piggy asks
Jack and his hunters whether it is better to be a pack of
painted Indians or sensible like Ralph, but Roger tips a
rock over on Piggy, causing him to fall down the
mountain to the beach. The impact kills him. Jack declares
himself chief and hurls his spear at Ralph, who runs away.
Ralph hides near the castle rock, where he can see the
other boys, whom he no longer recognizes as civilized English
boys but rather as savages. He crawls near the place where
Sam and Eric are kept, and they give him some meat and tell
him to leave. While Ralph hides, he realizes that the other boys
are rolling rocks down the mountain. Ralph evades the other
boys who are hunting for them, and then realizes that they are
setting the forest on fire in order to smoke him out, and thus
will destroy whatever fruit is left on the island. Ralph finally
reaches the beach, where a naval officer has arrived with his
ship. He thinks that the boys have only been playing games,
and scolds them for not behaving in a more organized and
responsible manner, as is the British custom. As the boys
prepare to leave the island for home, Ralph weeps for the death
of Piggy and the end of the boys' innocence.
 the Author
William Gerald Golding was born in
Cornwall, England on September 19, 1911. He
died in 1993 at the age of 82. Golding studied
English literature and philosophy at Oxford
and served in the Royal Navy during World
War II. In addition to his career as a writer,
William Golding has been a schoolmaster, an
actor, a musician and a lecturer in England.
Lord of the Flies was Golding’s first novel. He
wrote it in 1954. After that, he went on to
publish many other books including a
collection of his poems and two collections of
his essays. Golding also wrote one play. In
1983, William Golding’s work was honored
when he received the Nobel Prize for literature.

Other novels by William Golding include:

The Inheritors
Pincher Martin
Free Fall
the Playwright
The Pyramid
The Paper Men Nigel Williams was born and raised in
Fire Down Below Cheshire, England in 1948. He attended Oriel
To the Ends of the Earth College in Oxford, England. Today he lives in
southwest London with his wife and two sons.
Williams is a noted novelist, screenwriter and
playwright. He has written over 22 plays and
over 15 novels. He has even scripted dramas
for television. His most notable work is a 2005
TV drama called Elizabeth I, which was
nominated and won multiple Emmy awards.

Other plays by Nigel Williams include:

Marbles
Class Enemy
Sugar and Spice
My Brother’s Keeper
As It Was
Breaking Up
The Last Romantics
Harry and Me

6
Notes from the director…
Playwright Nigel Williams writes, “One of my main aims in
adapting the novel was to try to realize the complexity of
his intentions. The way in which Golding uses myth and
naturalism call for the kind of seriousness of theatrical
language that has all but vanished from our stages.”
Indeed Lord of the Flies is a complex and serious play.
Not everybody prefers complex, serious Theatre. I know
many people who would prefer a simple, happy story, like
those from Disney, as a means of escapist entertainment.
I like those stories, too, sometimes. I also like theatre that
speaks truth. Today young people are challenged with an
incredibly complex and serious world, a world of bitter
truths, really. And I believe that Theatre is not only a way
to entertain, but also to illuminate truths about ourselves
and the world in which we live. That’s art. Lord of the Flies
is one of those plays that challenges us to delve deep, to
confront our fears, and to grow wiser.
To stage Lord of the Flies with age appropriate casting is
an extreme challenge. How do you release authentically
savage performances onstage, while maintaining a
disciplined, respectful, and supportive ensemble of mostly
pre-adolescent boys? In addition to the director’s
guidance, the company of young actors received training
from at least four other specialists: an acting coach, a
stage combat coach, a dialect coach, and a specialist in
educational theatre. As an integrated conservatory project,
equal emphasis was put on process as well as product.
Over 70 hours of rehearsal/training were spent to prepare
actors for their performances. Over $9K was budgeted to
produce the show. Putting on the show is no simple task.
When you think about the technical aspects, the play
seems even more complex. All of the production elements
must serve the story. The costumes and makeup should
show a progression as the proper English schoolboys
transform into savages. The sets, lights, and sound,
enhanced by the multimedia effects, will create a surreal
island paradise-turned-to-hell.
The N4th Theater is very fortunate to have state-of-the-art
lighting and digital media technology, and as a director I
must make decisions about how to use it to serve the play.
The screen images serve a variety of functions. They
demonstrate times and locales. In addition, the events or
objects that are too horrible or too dangerous to portray
realistically are experienced though the filter of the
television screens. At one point, the screen shield is
broken when blood is blood is drawn from the TV.
Sometimes the action is so terrible that it is completely
hidden from the audience, so that thoughts of it can run
wild in their own imaginations.
In contrast, some very real props are used to tell the story.
Only things that represent something else (the conch, the
pig’s head, Piggy’s glasses, the boys’ spears) are seen as
real objects. If you see a prop, it’s because it’s a symbol –
7
the object represents an idea larger than itself. Any
ordinary object is insignificant (like or rock or a twig) and
therefore pantomimed. So, the world of the play becomes
an inverted dream world, where reality is imagined and
where symbols are concrete.
If thinking about all these complexities is making your brain
hurt, perhaps you will understand more naturally the
seriousness of the play.
When left to their own devices, these shipwrecked boys,
instead of banding together to survive, begin to destroy
each other. Fear and chaos lead to murder. The author
makes the statement that the natural tendency of humans
is evil; law and order must be learned. What is so shocking
about Golding’s parable is that more than 50 years after it
was written, its horror remain relevant. Today, more and
more, young people commit violent crimes. Adult societies
wage war. Evidence of fear and hatred are piped daily into
each household on the news telecast. Furthermore, it
seems that with each generation the innocence of
childhood is lost earlier and earlier.
“It was a game,” the characters say. A game with no rules.
A childish, intoxicating free-for-all that plummets deep
down into the heart of a disturbing darkness. It is likely to
be a play that’s difficult to watch.
Understanding the play will be easier if you talk about it.
Discussions before and after the play are critical for you to
process all the complexity and seriousness. In many
aspects of it, you should find that there are no right or
wrong answers — just opinions and observations.
Moreover, sometimes talking about the event is even more
fun than attending it. So talk about it, and you should be
enlightened even more.
Gosh, that sounds like hard work! With all that’s required
to know and to do, why bother with such a difficult play?
Why should we even go see Lord of the Flies? We go
because a path has been cut into a jungle is vast and dark.
We go to illuminate the darkness, to unravel the
complexity, and to face the seriousness of human nature.
In doing so we dispel our fear. We expose the beast. We
conquer it.
Ultimately, we come out the other side wounded but wiser
from the journey.
Jonathan Dunski is an
independent Youth Theatre
director, playwright, actor, and
teacher. You may write to him at
jonathan.dunski@gmail.com.
 Theme
“Which is better – law and rescue or hunting and breaking things up?” --Piggy

What is a theme? In order to understand theme, you must understand story and plot.

THEME
The message the playwright is saying
through the play. It is often a
moral, political or social idea.

STORY PLOT
The entire account of The events that actually happen in the
the characters from before we meet play.
them until after the play ends.

Lord of the Flies is a complex story with a few big themes:

Civilization vs. Savagery – Piggy tries to convince everyone to have an organized meeting
while Jack tries to get them to kill a pig. This conflict summarizes the main theme of Lord of the
Flies. Piggy is good and Jack is evil. This conflict can also be described as order vs. chaos,
reason vs. impulse, law vs. anarchy.
Loss of innocence – As the play goes on, the boys loose their sense of childhood. They have to
feed and shelter themselves while on the island. They also have to protect themselves from each
other. This forces them to turn into hunters and killers. The savage boys at the end of the play are
very different from the innocent boys from Act 1.
There is a beast in every person – No one person taught the boys to behave the way they did on
the island. There was an instinct in Jack and Roger that made them act like animals. If you take
away the rules that humans live by, their savage nature appears. The homosapien is an animal
after all.
The moral integrity of a group determines life within that society – If the group is made up
of people who do not believe in law and order, there will only be chaos within that society. On
the other hand, if a group of people wants to live in harmony and aim to do so, a lifestyle without
confrontation is attainable.

When asked about the theme of his story William Golding replied:
“The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature. The moral is
that the shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political
system however apparently logical or respectable. The whole book is symbolic in nature except the rescue
in the end where adult life appears, dignified and capable, but in reality enmeshed in the same evil as the
symbolic life of the children on the island. The officer, having interrupted a man-hunt, prepares to take
the children off the island in a cruiser which will presently be hunting its enemy in the same implacable
way. And who will rescue the adult and his cruiser?”

8
 MEET THE CHARACTERS
*introduced by the actors who play them
Ralph – (Played by Paul Brennan) – Ralph wants only to be rescued from the island and does not let
anyone forget that fact. He is the first to claim a leadership role and does his best to live up to his
definition of a leader.

Piggy (played by Dennis Wees) – Piggy is a twelve-year-old boy from a lower-middle

class neighborhood. He always speaks his mind and because of that, the other boys find
him annoying. He tries to bring some democracy to the island.

Jack (played by James Ackerman) – Jack is an English boy who thinks he is better than
everyone else is because he is a “prefect”. Jack is also a fierce fighter and has the largest
transition from civilized to savage.

Perceval (played by Prescott Carmody) – Perceval is the

youngest boy on the island. Even though the other boys do not pay
much attention to him, Perceval thinks he is better than everyone
else is because he goes to a very good school in England.

Roger (played by Joshua Plevin) – Roger is also twelve years old

and he is the biggest bully on the island. He has a history of abuse and torment
from his life back in England. This is what makes him so mean. On the island, he
looks up to Jack. His one goal is to please him.

Simon (played by A.J. Hancock) – Simon is the symbol for sacrifice and martyrdom in the play. The
stress of the island gets to him and he goes crazy. Simon is also the most knowledgeable. He is the first to
see the truth about the beast but no one listens to him.

Maurice (played by Russell Allen) – Maurice is the class clown. He does not speak
the same way as the other boys. He feels like he has to make jokes and cruel
comments to fit in.

Bill (played by Carlos Martinez) – Bill is a boy who is nice at first but is lead into
savagery. He joins the other boys in the killings and bullying.

Henry (played by Derrick Armijo) – Henry does not like to talk but he does a lot of
listening. He also likes to be alone and let his mind wonder. Like Bill, he follows the
boys into their dark side.

Sam (played by Quinn Mason) – Sam is a very loyal, eleven year old boy. He is most loyal to his
brother Eric who he leads all over the place. Sam joins Ralph’s camp on the island and does most of the
things he is told to do.

Eric (played by Collin Thornton) – Eric joins Ralph’s camp with his
brother Sam. In fact, Eric follows Sam everywhere. He even finishes his
sentences.

After watching the play, discuss which character was the most
memorable to you.
9
 Coming to the Theater to
watch live Theatre
Did you know that there are two ways to spell the word theater?
Theater – a place you go to see a movie or a play.
Theatre – the art of performance

Seeing a play can be very exciting. There are real people in front of you acting out a story.
As the audience, you play a very important role. You are there to witness the story. The play
would not be complete if the audience was not there to watch it.

Here are some tips on how to be a great audience member:

1 Do not speak while the play is going on. Instead, pay close attention to what the
actors are saying. Remember, you are not watching TV by yourself. There are
actors on stage working hard to tell you a story. They will be able to hear you if you
talk.
2 Do not get out of your seat until intermission or the end of the play. People
moving around the theater are very distracting for the actors and your fellow
audience members.
3 If you think something is funny, laugh. It is perfectly ok to react to what you see
on stage. Theater is supposed to make you laugh, cry, or learn about something
new. When you do laugh, try to be respectful. No one likes an obnoxious laugher.
4 If you enjoyed the actors’ work, then applaud them at the end of the show. You
may even stand up to applaud. That is called a standing ovation. If you do not think
they did a good job, clap anyway. It is the polite thing to do.
5 If you have a question, ask it (but please wait until intermission). At that time,
you can ask a teacher or a friend. Questions are welcome in the theater because they
lead to conversations about the play.

When you get to the theater, you will have a few minutes to find your seat before the show starts.
Once you find your seat, look around. There is so much to see in a theater, even before the actors
come on stage.

What do you think you will see? List your answers.

10
 the Designers
There are many people who use their skills and talents to help a play come together. They are the
play’s designers. Think of it as many artists coming together to paint one masterpiece. Each
designer has a specific role, however, they all work together to decide on the overall look and
feel of the play.
A scenic designer creates the environment of the play. He or she decides on what the set should
look like and how to build it. Sometimes a set is an exact version of what is called for in the
script. Other times, the set will be an abstract or artistic version of the playwright’s vision. A
scenic designer also creates the props for the play.
A lighting designer creates the mood of the play. Lighting can tell us if it is day or night and if
the scene is happy or sad. Think about a scary movie, the lighting is usually very dark. A lighting
designer decides where lights are hung, how bright they should be and when they come on.
A costume designer decides on what each actor will wear on stage. You can tell a lot about a
person by what he or she is wearing. A costume designer tells the audience about the character
before the actor speaks a line. Sometimes an actor changes costumes throughout a play, the
designer makes sure the costumes are consistent with the story of the character.
A sound designer creates the noises you hear throughout the play. He or she finds decides on
which sound effects or pieces of music go with each scene. Sometimes, you will not realize that
a sound designer is at work because the sound effects will blend right in with the scene (think of
a radio playing in the background). Other times, a loud deliberate noise will help you understand
exactly what is going on in the story (think of a roar of thunder).

The first thing you will notice when you walk into the theater is
that the seats are set up in an unusual way for play viewing.

They are set up alley style. This means that there is audience on
both sides of the stage. The actors perform in the round.

The director, Jonathan Dunski, made the decision to stage the

play this way. He wanted the audience to feel like they are inside
the playing space. They might even be other lost boys on the
island watching the story unfold. It is ok if the audience feels
uncomfortable with how close they are to the action. It is all part
of the experience of seeing this play.

After you view the play, ask yourself – How did I feel sitting so
close to the actors? Did it make for a cool experience? Did you
feel a little uncomfortable? Any answer is okay.

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 + their
When a designer reads a script, he or she looks for clues about what world of the play looks and
sounds like. Below, you will find what the designers found by reading from their individual
perspectives. Can you match the designer to his/her statement?
Luke Olson – Lighting Designer
Susan Stroupe – Sound Designer
Erin Moots – Costume Designer
Seah Johnson – Scenic Designer
Designs
A. There are two main groups of boys on the island and
then there is Piggy. Each group comes from a different school
and therefore has a different uniform. For this production, the
director has decided that characters are English schoolboys
from the mid 20th century. The uniforms must represent that
time and place. As the boys in the play transform from civilized
to savage, so will their clothes. As they spend more time on
the island, their clothes will become more and more distressed.
B. The island in this play is not one that conjures up feelings
of vacation or relaxation. Instead, it is an island where the boys
fight for survival. It is a dark and uninhabited place. The
environment of this play is a scary, hostile one. In order to
stage some of the more challenging pieces of the play (like the
killing of a pig, or building a fire) we use projected images. The
projections help the audiences understand the story but also
allow them to use their imagination to decide what actually
happens.
C. My design helps guide the audience to what they should
see and what they should not see. In this play, I follow the
boys’ mental and moral condition. As the play progresses, the
‘sunlight’ will gradually fade. This is because the savagery of
the boys gradually increases. The darker the boys become,
the darker the stage will be. The ‘sunlight’ will continue to
disappear until the point in the play when the boys are their
most evil and the sun goes away completely. From then on,
the set will only lit by the ‘moonlight’.
D. The beach and the jungle sound different. I create
background and add to the ambiance of the play. Sometimes
the audience will hear familiar things, like jungle sounds, but to
add to the sense of fear, they will often hear unrecognizable
things, like electronic or “alien” sounds. There is also a bit of
Celtic and drum music underscoring the action. In addition, the
choir sings a song that they know. The song is in Latin and is
called Locus Iste, which translates to “this land”.
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 Symbolism
What is a symbol?
According to the dictionary, a symbol is,
“something that represents something else
by association, resemblance or convention,
especially a material object used to represent
something invisible.”
What is a prop?
A prop is an object that an actor moves
around during the action of the action of the
play. If an item on the set stays in one place
for the whole play, it is set dressing but if it
is held, used or moved, it is a prop.

What do these two things have to do with one another?

In this production of Lord of the Flies, props are symbols! If you see an actor actually holding
an object, and not pretending to hold something, the object is a symbol for something else.
Object (Prop) Symbol for
conch shell law, democracy
Piggy’s glasses Power
spears chaos, anarchy
shelters order, civilization
pig’s head fear, murder
pigs blood savagery

Characters can also be symbolic. A character may stand for is an idea or a whole
population of people – something much larger than himself. What do you think each of
these characters represents?
Character Symbol for
Ralph

Piggy

Jack

Simon

Perceval (the lit’lun)

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 Where in the world are the “FLY-
LY-BOYS”” ” ?”
Although we do not know exactly where the story takes place, the script gives us some clues to
help us make an educated guess as to where the island is.

Clue 1: The boys all speak in a British accent.

Clue 2: When the plane crashed, they were flying over a body of water.

Clue 3: The choir was traveling together and they were all wearing their school uniforms.
Where could they have been traveling?

Clue 4: The boys walk around in very little clothing and are not cold. What is the climate on the
island?

Clue 5: There are wild boars that run all around the island. In what part of the world can wild
boar survive?

Where on the map could they be?

Bonus Question: There is talk about a war. In act one Perceval says, “Have the bombs killed our
mums yet?” What war could he be talking about?

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 “Lord of the Flies”
Where does the title come from?

“Those are flies. There’s blood and there are flies. It’s not my fault there’s blood
and flies is it?” – Simon
In the play, Simon identifies the pigs head as the “lord of the flies” because many flies
swarm around the dead carcass. As he starts to go crazy, he
imagines the pigs head is talking to him….
“You’re an ignorant, silly little boy! And I know you are
because I’m the beast! You hear me, I’m the beast!
– Simon (playing with the pig’s head as a puppet)

The title Lord of the Flies is a literary allusion!

That means it references other pieces of literature.

Here are some interesting facts about the title Lord of the Flies:

• The Hebrew word Beelzebub translates to “god of the fly”, “host of the fly” or
literally “lord of the flies”. In the bible, the word is also used as a synonym for the
word Satan.
"Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house
divided against itself will stand; and if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided
against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons
by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out?”
- Matthew 12:22-28 RSV

• There is a line from the play King Lear by William Shakespeare that references
the title
“As flies to wonton boys, are we to the gods, - They kill us for their sport”.
- King Lear Act IV, Scene 1

William Golding would have known about both the Bible and the Shakespearean play
when he was writing his story. Not only does his choice of title strongly allude to these
pieces of literature but some of the themes (good vs. evil, civilized vs. savage) of the
play do as well.

What other stories or plays do you know have titles that are allusions?

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 A Performance Scavenger Hunt!
or
WHO SAID WHAT?
The Rules:
You can read the book and take a guess at the answers before you see the play
Or
You can pay extra attention while you watch the play and write down your answers
when it is over.
But
You cannot write down your answers during the performance!

Which character said which line?

1. It’s a man, that’s all. It’s a man that got killed…

__________________________________________________________________
2. Can you smell it? This is the soul of a pig.…
__________________________________________________________________
3. You look so pathetic with that shell. Like it’s a hot water bottle or
something....
__________________________________________________________________
4. An’ if we all talk at the same time, we’ll never get nowhere will we?
__________________________________________________________________
5. I remember there was a boy called Merridew, but that was a long time ago…
__________________________________________________________________
6. My mind isn’t right, I will have one of my goes if I am not careful.…
__________________________________________________________________
7. Now this fire is started we must never let it out…
__________________________________________________________________
8. Don’t nod off, will you? Or it will come. It’ll creep up behind you…
__________________________________________________________________
9. Listen, I can hear the beastie…
__________________________________________________________________
10. Ah am de savage man! I do de dance of…
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
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 POST SHOW ACTIVITIES
SCIENCE
• Create a survival manual?
o Describe the basic elements that a human being needs to survive on a deserted island.
o How can a deserted island provide food, shelter etc?
• Describe how the ocean could be helpful or harmful to the boys in Lord of the Flies.
• Find out why you can start a fire with a lens, like that in Piggy’s glasses.
• Create a sundial.

SOCIAL STUDIES ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS

• Write an essay on your definition of • Write a review of the play.
a good leader. What qualities are • Create a newspaper for distribution on the island.
necessary for someone to lead a o What day is it?
group of people well? Use o What type of articles will your paper have?
examples from literature or history. o What news needs to be told?
• Decide on a different time period
and retell this story. • If the boys on the beach could text message with
o What is going on in the the hunters on the cliffs, what would they say to
world? each other?
o Are the chances of the boys • Write a sequel to LOTF. What happens to the boys
rescue greater or worse? after they leave the island?
o Has technology advanced
and if so, how can this help
them?

MATH
• Decide what the island would look like if you were to design it.
• Draw a ground plan of the island.
o What are the real life dimensions of the island?
o How can you shrink it so that it fits on the page?
• Create a scale model of the island.
• Design a tent to be used for shelter.
• Estimate the number of days the boys can feed off of one wild pig. Say that a pig
weighs 50 pounds, and that 60% of it is edible pork. Each of the boys needs to
fulfill his daily intake of 2000 calories. Also, how many pigs would they need to
eat in a year?

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 Resources

Literature
Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. 50th Anniversary Edition. New York: The Berkley
Publishing Group, 2003

Lord of the Flies. William Golding. Adapt. Nigel Williams. London, England: Simpson
Fox associates 1995

Swisher, Clarice, ed. Readings on Lord of the Flies. San Diego: The Greenhaven Press,
1997

Movies
Lord of the Flies. by William Golding. Adapt. Peter Brook. Dir. Peter Brook. Two Arts
Limited, 1963

Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Adapt. Sarah Schiff, Dir Harry Hook. Castle Rock
Entertainment. 1990

Online
Gerenser, Scott. “Lord of the Flies” [online] http://www.gerenser.com/lotf/ Oct. 1, 2007

“Lord of the Flies” Wikipedia [online] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_the_Flies

October 1, 2007

Phillips, Brian. “SparkNote on Lord of the Flies”. http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/flies/.

1 Oct. 2007

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