'Lord of the Flies' premieres at Buskirk

The stage at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater was transformed into a deserted island Wednesday night during a preview performance of Cardinal Stage Company’s “Lord of the Flies.”  

Based on the Nobel Prize-winning 1954 dystopian novel of the same name by William Golding, “Lord of the Flies” is part of a collaboration between Cardinal and the College of Arts and Sciences for Themester 2013: Connectedness: Networks in a Complex World and Cardinal’s first production of the 2013-14 season.

It’s not only a Midwest premiere, but also only the third professional production ever staged in America.

Each year for the past five years, Cardinal has done a show for Themester that relates to what students are learning in public schools. Past performances include “The Grapes of Wrath,” “All My Sons,” “Inherit the Wind” and “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

“We thought ‘Lord of the Flies’ would work really well and be a good fit in terms of social connections and social constructs,” said Randy White, show director and Cardinal Artistic Director.

Several IU theater students have roles in the production, including junior Nat Zegree as Ralph, junior Nathan Robbins as Jack and sophomore Todd Aulwurm as Simon. Many of the actors are much older than their literary counterparts, which was an intentional part of casting, White said.

“I felt strongly that the play was going to be too difficult for younger actors to be able to embody,” he said. “For physical movement and crazy expressive stuff that happens later in the play, the deeper emotional connection, I feel that younger actors weren’t going to be able to convincingly and safely portray it.”

Even with older actors, White still had to find the right set and lighting to bring the scenes and locations in the book to life.

Set designer Mark Smith and lighting designer Michael Jackson created a unique combination featuring a raised set designed to suggest different locations based on lighting changes.

“It’s the biggest set we’ve ever put into the Buskirk-Chumley Theater,” White said. “There’s so much movement and so many light and sound effects. They spent a lot of time working and putting it all together.”

The play will show 7 p.m. Thursday through Sunday and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. All performances are at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.

The stage version of “Lord of the Flies” closely follows the story in Golding’s novel, with White referring to it as “the book on stage.”

White said the production captures the book’s fascinating examinations of humanity’s tendency toward chaos through the relationship between characters Ralph and Piggy.

“I think there are several central ideas at its core, like the ways in which we organize ourselves in social construction that are designed to both enhance the best parts and mitigate the worst parts of us as human beings,” White said.

Follow reporter Rachel Osman on Twitter @rachosman.