Lord of the Flies @ The Lowry Studio, Salford, 9-12 Jul

A group of schoolboys, evacuated from their homes for safety, find themselves stranded and alone on a tropical island in the dramatic opening of William Golding’s 1954 novel, Lord of the Flies. Free from ‘grown-ups’ and the strict rules of the schoolroom, the island is idyllic by day but is transformed under cover of darkness, when the boys’ nightmares are haunted by fears of an unknown ‘beast’.

As they attempt to negotiate this new environment and maintain a civil society in a world devoid of civilisation, the cracks begin to show. Power struggles develop as the boys debate the best course of action: build a fire? Build a shelter? Hunt for food? In a society where the only emblem of law is a conch, how long will it be before tribes develop and the boys descend into savagery? This powerful, dystopian vision of modern civilisation painfully reveals man’s potential for evil and, in Golding’s words, 'laments the lost childhood of the world.'

The novel that many of us may recognise from our school days has been adapted for the stage by Nigel Williams. First professionally performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1995, the play received mixed critical reviews, with some doubtful of the theatre’s ability to capture the scale, depth and complexity of Golding’s intentions. Step up award-winning director Reuben Johnson, recipient of the 2009 NSDF Best Emerging Artist Award. Returning to the Lowry following sell-out runs of Wrecked (2012), The Proposal (2011) and Territory (2010), Johnson’s revived production promises to be provocative, accessible and enthralling.

In a modern world fraught with political power struggles that permeate so many aspects of our daily lives, perhaps Johnson’s production will also prove painfully relevant, delivering Golding’s parable as a poignant warning against the breakdown of civil society. [Bernie Whittle]