Last week, audiences were treated to a captivating and chilling production of Lord of the Flies held in the new Studio Theatre.

The all-female company of Year 10 to Upper Sixth actors produced a spellbinding re-imagining of William Golding’s original tale of little boys trapped on a desert island resorting to savagery as they hunt the Pig and then eventually the ‘beast’ within.

The intimate stage demanded much of the actors, requiring precise physical timing and dexterity as well as a constant awareness of the audience surrounding them on all sides.

The highly atmospheric environment of the desert island and its descent into chaos was created through a beautiful lighting design and further enhanced by emotive music and the evolving costume and make-up design. This built the tension of each act as the audience watched  with growing horror the disintegration of the girls’ fragile community as they descended into violence and cruelty; culminating in the horrible murders of both Simone (Holly Sanders, Year 11) and Piggy (Beth English, Lower Sixth). The very moving final moment of the play as Rae (Mia Brittle, Upper Sixth) is left sobbing in the terrible aftermath of the death of her friends, brought many to tears.

As one audience member commented: “I found the production gripping and downright chilling, but so well acted, so uncomfortably plausible. I went to bed haunted by the beastie, and much more besides…”

View the dramatic moments here.