September 14, 2006
By Ndaba Dlamini
THE complex nature of the human psyche has been the subject of many a philosopher. William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies, is one of the most telling explorations.
The novel, written in 1955 and one of the most prescribed set works in schools around the world, has been adapted for the stage by Nigel Williams and is currently running at the Barney Simon Theatre at the Market Theatre complex.
Against a set of genuine beach sand, tropical climbing plants and a tiny rivulet on one side of the stage, the play opens with two boys, Ralph and Piggy, meeting on a deserted Indian Ocean island after a plane crash.
The survivors link up and all goes well at first, with the boys forming a community with set rules, a camp and a signal fire to attract any passing ships.
Their efforts to maintain a civilised community come under threat when some of the group members want to change the rules. Things take a turn for the worse when schoolboy games lead to conflict and even murder.
Golding published his novel not long after World War II, with despots like Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini in mind.
According to the theatre's literary manager Craig Higginson, who adapted the novel for the South African stage, a great source of the novel's power came from using children as subjects - and not working class children, as Charles Dickens had done, but predominantly privileged middle-class children from public schools.
The novel, arguably one of the greatest English novels of all time, challenged the long-held view of the innocence of children and attempted to show that the veneer of "civilisation" is a thin one.
It also developed on Nietszche's philosophy on the fundamental will-to-power and the end of the belief in absolute moralities, as well as Freud's exploration of the unconscious and suggestion that the self contains dark corners with the most savage of impulses.
"Because human nature is more or less unchanging, the book is as powerful today as it was when first published. In the context of present-day South Africa, it shows us how frail our new democracy is - and how valuable."
Higginson describes casting the play as a "political minefield". "To make Jack (Lindani Dlamini) white and Ralph (Diphapang Mokoena) black was to make one sort of statement about South Africa today, and to shift it the other way around was to make another … What we have tried to do is to have a scattering of languages in our version, so that we can show how even today's ostensibly apolitical youth (this is a myth, of course) are capable of forming different alliances that will promote the interests and freedom of some and demote that of others."
The production is unprecedented in having a cast made up almost exclusively of school children.
Tshediso Lawrence Mofadi and the twins, Jarrod and Dylan Watson in the background.
Lord of the Flies is a prescribed work in South African schools and universities and the production will prove invaluable to students and learners, who often find the application of literary texts to their own lives difficult.
Higginson says for those studying the book at school, it is important to remember that the production is not to be confused with the book.
"You won't be able to write your exams simply from having watched our production. But it will be interesting and fruitful for those studying the book to compare this production with the novel itself - and see how little we as human beings have travelled since World War II."
And South Africa, after a period of strife during the apartheid era, is busy reinventing itself and all South Africans carry the legacy of that period of darkness whether we like it or not, says Higginson.
"It is up to us to transform our society and ourselves, otherwise our children will simply repeat the patterns set down before them. We see here a simple joke directed at a fat boy, a shy boy, or a boy who simply wants to go home to his mother, a lead to events that bring a 'civilisation' and democracy crashing down."
Lord of the Flies is part of the ongoing Johannesburg Arts Alive theatre programme and is on until 29 October at the Barney Simon Theatre, at the Market Theatre. Tickets are available at
Computicket.
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