Stranded on a tropical island, a group of British boys attempt to establish rules and govern themselves, but soon order turns into chaos and betrayal. Exploring a tale of savagery and the flaws of human nature, the theater department prepares for the play “Lord of the Flies,” an adaptation of William Golding’s novel.
After surviving a plane crash in the middle of World War II, a group of boys are trapped on an island and must survive on their own. With rumors of a monster in their midst and increasing conflict between the boys, the play follows their struggle to create a society by themselves, which eventually leads to brutality and bloodshed.
“The entire story of ‘Lord of the Flies’ is supposed to be an allegorical story with all the characters representing different things,” senior Rory Ketzle said. “Ralph, one of the main characters, is supposed to represent order and Jack is meant to represent chaos. There’s also Piggy, who represents intelligence and my character, Simon, who represents human kindness and holiness.”
With rehearsals almost every day, people in charge of set design work to build sets, while the actors practice their lines and deepen the characters’ personalities. Despite their busy schedules, the effort they put in helps bring the play to life.
“I am most excited about connecting and building the character bonds between all the different characters,” Ketzle said. “We’re all stuck on this island together, so we all have different relationships and past relationships from before we landed.”
Compared to previous years, the set design of “Lord of the Flies,” is unique. Instead of performing on a flat stage, the theater department tries to incorporate sand and use the pit, which is the ground in front of the audience.
“We have a lot of different sized platforms on stage,” sophomore Dylan Hancock, who is in charge of set design and construction, said. “It’s basically a bunch of uneven platforms trying to mimic an island.”
Usually, most roles are only played by one person, but for “Lord of the Flies,” the theater department has a double cast where many of the characters are played by more than one person. The theater department alternates who goes on stage each time they perform, so the audience watches a different cast depending on the day they go.
“We actually do not double cast our main stages because that’s normally for our children’s shows,” Ketzle said. “What’s really cool is that we get to work with our counterparts and compare how we view our characters and portray them.”
Since the characters in the play are British, the theater students practice and develop their British accents for the upcoming show. Accents require additional practice to perform but they help to stay true to the original story.
“I love getting to work with British accents for this production,” senior McKenzy Hopkins, who plays Ralph, said. “Accent work has always been challenging for me, but I love getting to work on and improve my accent skills throughout this process.”
Opening night will be Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. with performances daily until Oct. 21. Oct. 20 has performances at 2 p.m and 7 p.m. while Oct.21 only has a performance at 7 p.m. The Chantilly Drama website will be selling tickets soon.
“I am excited to see all the diverse elements come together,” Hopkins said. “From the accents to the various set platforms and fight choreography, it is going to be a dynamic production.”
