This September, Theatre Works unleashes a visceral new production of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, adapted for the stage by Nigel Williams.
Directed by award-winning theatre-maker Steven Mitchell Wright (MEDEA: Out of the Mouths of Babes, Away, Ghosts), this powerful season reimagines one of the twentieth century’s most enduring novels as a gripping, highly physical theatrical event that speaks to our fractured contemporary world.
Following a catastrophic plane crash, a group of boys find themselves stranded on an isolated island, deter mined to create order from chaos. But as fear, suspicion and the struggle for power begin to eclipse reason, the fragile structures of civilisation collapse with terrifying speed.
In Wright’s bold interpretation, Lord of the Flies becomes far more than a survival story – it is an unsettling examination of authority, tribalism, masculinity and the darkness that can emerge when accountability disappears. Urgent, immersive and emotionally charged, the production invites audiences to ask not how civilisation fails, but how easily it can.
“I’m drawn to big literary works and I love stories that exist within a closed system or an isolated world,” says Director Steven Mitchell Wright. “I don’t believe theatre is necessarily a tool for fixing systemic problems or global atrocities, but I do believe that art, beauty, and the act of bringing people together can be life-shifting, hope-affirming and, in cases, life-altering.”
“This work is large-scale. There are a lot of bodies in the space and it’s visceral and highly physical. It moves between realistic and poetic, earnest and absurd, literal and abstract, and from something theatrically nostalgic into something deeply contemporary. It’s a very sensory production and we’re excited to share it with audiences.”
Performed by a diverse ensemble of male, non-binary, and trans performers, this latest season from Theatre Works explores masculinity as something learned, performed, celebrated, resisted, and constantly negotiated.
Rather than presenting Lord of the Flies again as exclusively the story of cisgender boys, this new lens creates a world examining power, identity and belonging within a much broader range of lived experiences. With a 12-strong ensemble who have been working together since January of this year to build the world, there is also a darkly amusing element offstage of “life imitating art.”
Not just unique in its casting, this latest season by Steven Mitchell Wright also draws on an expansive range of influences including punk, electronica and choral music, visual art, reality television, and game design.
With artists as diverse as Bing Crosby, Iggy Pop, and Henryk Górecki alongside the photographic worlds of Alessandra Sanguinetti, Andres Serrano, and Roger Ballen, the production creates a theatrical language that feels both timeless and contemporary.
Reality television series including Outlast, Kid Nation and Boys Alone have also informed the work’s exploration of isolation, surveillance, and the fragile social contracts that emerge when established structures disappear.
Audiences are invited to experience this thrilling new interpretation of one of literature’s most influential works – an ambitious, visually stunning and deeply physical production that asks crucial questions about masculinity, community, and the forces that shape who we become.
Director & Designer: Steven Mitchell Wright | Featuring: Will Bastow, Oliver Cowen, Darcy Crawford, Oliver Gorringe, Sam Finn Gudgeon, Hugo Gutteridge, Sean Yuen Halley, Angus Leighton, Declan Magee, Alvin Prasad, Blaise Tindale, Charlie Veitch | Lighting Design: Ben Hughes | Sound Design & Composition: Jack Burmeister | Stage Manager: Jade Hibbert | Producer: Dianne Toulson for Theatre Works
Lord of the Flies
Theatre Works, 14 Acland Street, St Kilda
Season: 22 September – 2 October 2026 (previews: 18 & 19 September)
Information and Bookings: www.theatreworks.org.au
Image: Theatre Works presents Lord of the Flies – photo by SMW Image