Went this afternoon to a matinee of Lord of the Flies at the Denver Performing Arts Center. +Kay Hill read the book as a summer assignment, so I thought this would be a good follow-up to that, esp. since I hadn't touched the story itself in (mumblety) decades.
The production of William Golding's novel, in the round at the Space Theater, was very good (adaption by Nigel Williams, directed by Anthony Powell). There were a few liberties taken, based on the setting on stage, working within the time limit involved, and having a cast that's more arguably high school (and beyond) than little kids, but the tale as presented was solid — and, per Golding's work, more than a bit depressing, arguing a state of nature much closer to Hobbes than Rousseau. It's fascinating watching the veneers of civilization peel away, one by one, from the shipwrecked public school students on an island, as some cling desperately to order and others dive headlong into savagery, the question of which are most delusional staying constantly up in the air.
The ensemble of actors are all good, though the variety of English accents were sometimes hard to follow from where we sat. The space was effectively used as well, with one block of seating turned into the hilltop, and the main space the beach below.
Good stuff.
Afterwards, of course, we went to this great new restaurant downtown, specializing in pork, cooked with skewers. Oh, and there's a dance floor …
