FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
BSC Press Director Charlie Siedenburg, 551-655-0968

Barrington Stage Company presents
“LORD OF THE FLIES”
By Nobel Prize Winner William Golding
Adapted for the Stage by Nigel Williams
Directed by Giovanna Sardelli
At BSC’s Boyd-Quinson Mainstage
October 3-21

(PITTSFIELD, MA) Barrington Stage Company, the award-winning theatre in downtown Pittsfield, MA, under the leadership of Julianne Boyd, Artistic Director, and Tristan Wilson, Managing Director, is proud to present Lord of the Flies by Nobel Prize winner William Golding, adapted for the stage by Nigel Williams. Directed by Giovanna Sardelli, who directed BSC’s summer production of The North Pool, Lord of the Flies runs October 3 through 21 at the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage, 30 Union Street, Pittsfield.  The press opening is Sunday, October 7 at 3pm.

William Golding’s great novel, a potent allegory about the loss of innocence and the decline of civilization, is brought to dramatic life in Nigel Williams’ adaptation. A plane crashes on a deserted island. The only survivors are a group of schoolboys. By day, it’s a tropical paradise of sun and sea; but each night, their dreams are inhabited by a terrifying beast. Thrust into a teenage version of ‘Survivor’, before long this well-behaved group turns into a bloodthirsty and murderous tribe. Myth and naturalism combine in a dynamic exploration of power, democracy, and the dichotomy of good and evil that is within us all. Lord of the Flies brings up many issues central to the lives of today’s adolescents – peer pressure, bullying, gang rivalry – in its depiction of reason versus chaos.

A timeless piece of work following the central theme of the journey from boyhood to manhood, William Golding described writing his novel as ‘like lamenting the lost childhood of the world’.

Barrington Stage’s production features Will Bradley (Roger), John Aramis Buckley (Eric), Richard Dent (Ralph), Chris Dwan (Simon), Joey LaBrasca (Percival), Eric Meyers (Henry), Matthew Minor (Piggy), John Evans Reese (Jack Merridew), Christopher Sears (Maurice) and Dane Shiner (Sam).

The design team includes David M. Barber (sets), Scott Pinkney (lights), Amy Clark (costumes), Anthony Mattana (original music and sound design), Felix Ivanov (fight choreographer) and Stephen Gabis (dialect coach). Renee Lutz is production stage manager.

William Golding was born September, 19, 1911, in Cornwall, England. He grew up in Marlborough in an old, 14th century house at the end of the churchyard and was fearful of the graveyard and the sleeping dead. Golding’s parents tried to bring him up with a scientific, rational view of the world and wanted him to be a scientist.  Golding went to Oxford in 1930 to study science but changed to English Literature. After graduating he worked as a writer, actor and producer with a small theatre group and then became a teacher.  During the Second World War Golding served with the Royal Navy and was profoundly affected by his experiences. After the war he taught at a boys’ school in Salisbury and in 1954 published his first novel, Lord of the Flies. Years later he said that writing the book was ‘like lamenting the lost childhood of the world’. In 1962 he retired from teaching to become a full time writer.  He won the Booker Prize in 1980 with Rites of Passage, was knighted in 1988 and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993.  William Golding died in 1993.

Playwright and novelist Nigel Williams’ stage adaptation of William Golding’s Lord of The Flies was first professionally produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon in July 1995. It was published by Faber & Faber (London) in 1996. The first ever performance was in 1992 at Kings’ College Junior School, Wimbledon, where Nigel’s son was at school. It was attended by William Golding himself, one year before his death in 1993. Nigel Williams was born in Cheshire in 1948, educated at Highgate School and Oriel College, Oxford. He is the author of TV and stage plays and several novels, including the best-selling Wimbledon Poisoner, They Came from SW19, East of Wimbledon and Scenes from a Poisoner’s Life. One of Nigel Williams’ best known plays is Class Enemy (1979). He wrote My Face for the National Theatre New Connections Festival 2008.

Giovanna Sardelli (Director) returns to BSC having directed Rajiv Joseph’s The North Pool earlier this season, and has collaborated with Joseph on the world premieres of his plays The North Pool (TheatreWorks), Animals Out of Paper (Joe A. Callaway Award for Outstanding Director), All This Intimacy (both for Second Stage), The Leopard and The Fox (Alter Ego) and Huck & Holden (Cherry Lane). Her recent world premieres include Theresa Rebeck’s play Dead Accounts (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park), Somewhere by Matthew Lopez (Old Globe) and the West Coast Premiere of his play The Whipping Man (Old Globe, NAACP nomination Best Director). Ms. Sardelli spent two seasons as Director of the Shakespeare Sedona Institute. She received her MFA from the Grad Acting program at NYU and is a graduate of their Director’s Lab.

Performances of Lord of the Flies will take place at Barrington Stage Company’s Boyd-Quinson Mainstage, 30 Union Street, Pittsfield, from October 3 through 21, 2012. Performances  are Wednesday and Thursday at 7pm, Friday and Saturday 8pm, Sunday at 3pm. Wednesday matinee October 17 at 2pm.  Additional matinees are scheduled for student groups (for more information on student group tickets, call Kate Ivey at 413-236-8888). Tickets are $15-$40; with preview prices of $15 and $20 on October 3 and 4. Seniors: $25 all matinees. Youth 18 and under $15 all performances. Special discounts are available for groups of 15 or more. To purchase tickets or for more information, call the Barrington Stage Box Office at 413-236-8888 or visit www.barringtonstageco.org. The Box Office is located at 30 Union Street.

October 11. Post-Show Discussion LORD OF THE FLIES. Boyd-Quinson Mainstage, 30 Union Street, Pittsfield. Following the Thursday 7pm performance.

October 14. Post-Show Panel Discussion on the topic of Bullying. Boyd-Quinson Mainstage, 30 Union Street, Pittsfield. Following the Sunday 3pm performance.

About Barrington Stage Company
Barrington Stage Company, a professional award-winning Equity regional theatre located in the heart of the Berkshires, in Pittsfield, MA, was co-founded in 1995 by Artistic Director Julianne Boyd. Barrington Stage’s mission is three-fold: to present top-notch, compelling work; to develop new plays and musicals; and to find fresh, bold ways to bringing new audiences into the theatre—especially young people. Barrington Stage garnered national attention in 2004 when it workshopped, and premiered William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin’s musical hit The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which later transferred to Broadway where it won two Tony Awards and played more than 1,000 performances. In 2009/2010 Barrington Stage produced the world premiere of Mark St. Germain’s Freud’s Last Session, which later moved Off-Broadway and 775 performances. Barrington Stage was voted “Best Live Theatre” by The Berkshire Eagle readers in 2011 and 2012 and was named “Best Theatre Company” in Metroland’s Best of the Capital Region 2009-2012.

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