Comments on: Lord of the Flies http://dctheatrescene.com/2008/04/09/lord-of-the-flies/ DC's Liveliest Theatre Website Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:01:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Jon http://dctheatrescene.com/2008/04/09/lord-of-the-flies/#comment-3203 Jon Sun, 13 Apr 2008 22:20:13 +0000 http://dctheatrescene.com/2008/04/09/lord-of-the-flies/#comment-3203 Blake Robison is doing the right thing by trying to appeal to younger audiences. Lord knows Roundhouse has the oldest subscriber base in the area. If some theatre companies don't attempt to change their season to bring in younger crowds, theatre in the DC area will slowly die out with it's ancient subscribers. Although I agree Lord of the Flies was a disaster, I blame that on young actors and a terrible adaptation. I thought the choice to include hard rock music, while not always successful, could have been very interesting. I applaud theaters like Signature and Woolly and Studio and yes even Roundhouse for trying to appeal to a younger audience, even at the immediate peril of alienating their subscribers. Blake Robison is doing the right thing by trying to appeal to younger audiences. Lord knows Roundhouse has the oldest subscriber base in the area. If some theatre companies don’t attempt to change their season to bring in younger crowds, theatre in the DC area will slowly die out with it’s ancient subscribers. Although I agree Lord of the Flies was a disaster, I blame that on young actors and a terrible adaptation. I thought the choice to include hard rock music, while not always successful, could have been very interesting. I applaud theaters like Signature and Woolly and Studio and yes even Roundhouse for trying to appeal to a younger audience, even at the immediate peril of alienating their subscribers.

]]> By: Diana Brosnan http://dctheatrescene.com/2008/04/09/lord-of-the-flies/#comment-3201 Diana Brosnan Sun, 13 Apr 2008 19:43:51 +0000 http://dctheatrescene.com/2008/04/09/lord-of-the-flies/#comment-3201 I aagree. it was terrible. On the whole Blake Robison has dumbed down every one of his literay works. He seems to be aiming at teenagers and not very well-read ones at that. I support Round House as a long time subscriber but have been very disappointed of late. The only good thing that I can say about Lord of the Flies is that it was not as bad as Treasure Island. diana brosnan I aagree. it was terrible. On the whole Blake Robison has dumbed down every one of his literay works. He seems to be aiming at teenagers and not very well-read ones at that. I support Round House as a long time subscriber but have been very disappointed of late. The only good thing that I can say about Lord of the Flies is that it was not as bad as Treasure Island. diana brosnan

]]> By: Rog http://dctheatrescene.com/2008/04/09/lord-of-the-flies/#comment-3196 Rog Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:41:09 +0000 http://dctheatrescene.com/2008/04/09/lord-of-the-flies/#comment-3196 Wow! I can't believe we saw this show so differently. I went to see LOTF full of anticipation and came away very disappointed. (I love anything on an island - LOST, Survivor, etc.) The basic set design was excellent as a platform, but since there are so many references to the thick trees, I needed to be looking at more than a lunar landscape to be able to visualize the forest. Some sort of stylized tree/forest effect on the back wall might have helped immensely. Especially when Simon causes a panic by appearing suddenly from the woods -- what woods??? He rolled off a rock into a mosh pit - and looked like he was having fun in a group dance. I did like the sound design, but the choreography and slo-mo violence looked more like a music video than a stage play. I suppose it might have been entertaining enough on its own, but in context it pulled me out of the story -- and by the second act became downright tedious. And the fake-looking plastic spears looked like they wouldn't cut butter - not threatening at all. (I undestand representational props and set pieces, but this went too far.) As for the acting -- again I have to disagree with the review. I thought it was mediocre at best, and some of the British accents were downright awful. And the ending of both acts just didn't work. So... as much as I love Roundhouse Theatre, and as excited as I was to see this show, I came away thinking that it was really a pretty amateurish effort. Sad but true. Wow! I can’t believe we saw this show so differently. I went to see LOTF full of anticipation and came away very disappointed. (I love anything on an island - LOST, Survivor, etc.)

The basic set design was excellent as a platform, but since there are so many references to the thick trees, I needed to be looking at more than a lunar landscape to be able to visualize the forest. Some sort of stylized tree/forest effect on the back wall might have helped immensely. Especially when Simon causes a panic by appearing suddenly from the woods — what woods??? He rolled off a rock into a mosh pit - and looked like he was having fun in a group dance.

I did like the sound design, but the choreography and slo-mo violence looked more like a music video than a stage play. I suppose it might have been entertaining enough on its own, but in context it pulled me out of the story — and by the second act became downright tedious. And the fake-looking plastic spears looked like they wouldn’t cut butter - not threatening at all. (I undestand representational props and set pieces, but this went too far.)

As for the acting — again I have to disagree with the review. I thought it was mediocre at best, and some of the British accents were downright awful. And the ending of both acts just didn’t work.

So… as much as I love Roundhouse Theatre, and as excited as I was to see this show, I came away thinking that it was really a pretty amateurish effort. Sad but true.

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