Matthew Bourne | ReBourne - Lord of the Flies - Tour 2014

[Jan McNulty]

Lord of the Flies opened at the Lowry on Wednesday evening.  I saw the performances that night and on Saturday afternoon.

 

It is a wonderful initiative that was started in conjuction with Glasgow city council in 2011 to involve young boys/youths in a dance project.  It must be so fulfilling for the boys who took part and if it inspires even one of them to go further with dance then that is a huge achievement in itself.

 

I'm not going to try and describe the performance in detail because Sarah Crompton has done a wonderful job of that in her review in The Telegraph.

 

I had read the book as a teenager and had found it very disturbing with its graphic description of how boys stranded on a desert island try to maintain some sort of order but then gradually descend into chaos and savagery as they try to survive.

 

I must say that I found the production disturbing so Matthew Bourne and Scott Ambler have definitely reflected the book accurately.  It is a testament to all the participants that it is so very compelling to watch.  I certainly noticed more on Saturday afternoon than I had on the first night and admired very much the performances of all concerned.

 

I totally agree with Ms Crompton that by the end you could not distinguish between the pro dancers and the youngsters involved - in fact in my case it was certainly within the first act that the boundaries disappeared.  On Saturday afternoon, after several performances, this was even more the case.

 

It is a dark story darkly and compellingly told.

[Huddsballetmum]

What a wonderful treat to watch Matthew Bourne's Lord of the Flies at the Bradford Alhambra this weekend.  The interpretation was fantastic and he captured the darkness of the story well.  

 

The choreography was amazing and in addition my dd's friend from NSCD was performing which made it exceptionally special.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=matthew+bourne+lord+of+the+flies&rlz=1C1KMZB_enGB570GB579&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=920&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=WKSFVNG0KMmuUaz2gpgE&sqi=2&ved=0CEMQsAQ