Overview
A thrilling dance production based on William Golding’s classic novel. Adapted and directed by Matthew Bourne and Scott Ambler.
The action is transferred from deserted island to deserted theatre. A group of schoolboys find themselves abandoned. With no adults around they start to make their own rules and create their own civilisation, before order breaks down and the story builds to an electrifying climax.
Golding’s legendary characters are brought to life with raw energy, emotional intensity and breath-taking performances. Chilling, beautiful and hugely entertaining, Lord of the Flies has inspired a generation of new dancers.
New Adventures’ adaptation of Lord of the Flies is a dance theatre production with huge ambition in terms of the complexity and impact. First performed in 2011 at Theatre Royal Glasgow, the production brought together a cast comprising of eight professional dancers from New Adventures and fifteen boys and young men from Glasgow with no professional dance experience.
In 2014, a successful bid to Arts Council England for a strategic touring grant made a 13 venue, national tour possible, reaching over 8,000 boys across the UK in Lord of the Flies workshops. In each city, local casts were brought onboard with the goal to put on a show which lived up to New Adventures’ world class reputation in every respect but which also encouraged and enabled more boys to experience participation in dance, often for the very first time.
Choreographed by Olivier Award-nominated Scott Ambler, set and costume design by Olivier Award-winner Lez Brotherston, music by Terry Davies, lighting design by Chris Davey, sound design by Paul Groothuis, adapted and directed by Olivier and Tony award-winner Matthew Bourne and Scott Ambler. The production was staged in Melbourne by Associate Artistic Director, Etta Murfitt and Resident Director, Alan Vincent.
A compelling adaptation
Guardian Australia
Watch Beastie, a short film which formed part of the inaugural production at Theatre Royal Glasgow in 2011.
All members of our 2014 Young Ensemble across the UK
Jamil Abbasi
Ryan Adam
Callum Adams
Elorm Ahorsu
Tristan Albon
Jay Allan
Matthew Allen
Ashlly All
Callum Anderson
Jamie Armour
Andrew Ashton
Elliott Augustine
Charley Austin
Ben Avery
Paul Awini
Sean Baldock
Joey Barton
Sean Barton
Sam Baskett
Josiah Batt
Joshua Batty
Marcus Bell
Matthew Bell
Leonardo Bertamini
Ross Black
Samuel Bluck
Ethan Bone
James Bouling
Elliot Bousfield
Isaac Bowry
Joseph Boyle
Shakeel Brar
Tyler Brooks
Llewelyn Brown
Taylor Browning-Walker
Daniel Burgess
Carter Burnell
Kyle Burnet
Freddie Butterfield
Michael Byers
Bailey Cameron
Sam Carruthers
Harry Carter
Callum Cavanagh
Morgan Chambers
Kurtis Clarke
Fergus Clavey
Christian Cocking
Dominic Compton
Berwyn Cooper
Ruben Copley
William Cornish
Dan Corr
Fingal Cowie
Chris Cowie
Darragh Cowley
Mascen Crahart
Oliver Crossley
Connor Crowley
Nathan Crowther
Malcolm Cumming
Albin Cyriac
Stuart Dagnall
Khalid Daley
Ethan Daly
Joshua Dance
Sonny Davies
Andrew Davison
Owen Dawson
Alfie Deegan
Nathan Denton
Joe Derbyshire
Benjamin Derham
Tiago Dhondt-Bamberger
Jack Dolaghan
Fred Double
Stanley Doughty
Isaac Duckers
Joel Dunning
Jake Edwards
Louis Ellis
Saul Farrell
Joel Fassard-Jones
Josh Fedrick
Michael Fernyhough
Cameron Finnemore
Blair Flucker
Samuel Fogg
Cerith Freeman
Colin Fyfe
Robert Gain
Euan Garrett
Callum Geddes
Neil Gibson
Roderick Gilkison
Ben Gillespie
Jacob Goodchild
Finlay Gordon
Dominic Gore
Ryan Gormley
Harry Grabham
Brad Guest
Ashton Hall
Tom Hammond
John Hansford
Matthew Hartley
Meshach Henry
Jacques Heraghty
Alex Hetherington
Matt Hill
Jack Hindmarch
Joseph Holgat
Leo Horler
Callum Howells
Ben Hughes
Carl Hughes
Alan Hunte
Marcus Hyka
Jared Irving
Iestyn James
George Jennings
Perry Johnson
Cameron Johnstone
Aston Joshua
Rickie Kelly
Paul Kenny
Thomas Kerek
Hal Keys-Holloway
Jevan King
James Knott
Alex Kokotaylo
Luke Lamkin
Robin Larkin
Kahlan Lee
Dereece Leigh-Gayle
James Leo
Nate Leung
Declan Lewis
Marcel Liping
George Littell
Fraser Livingston
Fenton Lockley
Alex Loombe
Alexander Love
Francis Lovehall
Lloyd Lovell
Angus Lovell
Harry Lowe
Euan Lownie
Danny Lumsden
Matthew Lyons
Cameron Macdonald
Cameron Macgregor
Lachlan Macleod
Jack Mansfield
Gordon Manson
Matthew Mantel
Matt Martin
Amukelani Matsena
Anthony Matsena
Daiki Matsuok
Callum McCabe
Jamie McCrory
Andre McCurdy
Tom McKay
Calum McKinnon
Ross McNally
Alfie McPherson
Amonik Melaco
Qiniso Mhlanga
Josh Milne
Samuel Milner
Eddie Mitchell
Harrison Mogg-Walls
Callum Moore
Liam Morgan
Tarik Msauaori
Ed Munro
Kennedy Muntanga
Finlay Murrary
Owen Murray
Kurt Nagy
Jaheim Narnor
Daniel Nattrass
Enrique Ngbokota
Sol Nicholson
Asher Nix
Ciaran Oakley
Callum Oiller
Jay Olpin
Harry Ondrak-Wright
Michael O'Reilly
Callum Osbourne
Harold Oyovwevotu
Felipe Pacheco
Chris Palmer
Sam Parham
Zach Parkin
Harry Partridge
Tyler Paul-McLean
Calum Pirie
George Potter
Harvey Powell
Daniel Powell
Ben Powney
Regan Prior
Calius Pritchard
Arran Proctor
Ross Provan
Lewis Pryor
Luke Pullen
Sean Quinn
Adam Quinn
Fraser Raeburn
Andrew Raeburn
Paul Read
Nathan Rigg
Jacob Roberts
Oliver Robertson
Gregor Robertson
Toby Robinson
Joseph Robinson
Jack Robinson
Alexander Rowles
Fergus Russell
Nicholas Saddler
Dylan Saffer
Harvey Schulver
Billy Scott
Lewis Scott
John Selkirk
Kieran Semple
Brett Sewell
Kieran Shannon
Malachi Simmons
Josh Simpson
Jatinder Singh Randhawa
Michael Skene
Ewan Skinner
Jack Speck
Callum Spencer
Zachary Spicer
Tom Strang
Adam Strotton
Louis Swanepoel
Nat Sweeney
Henry Taylor
William Taylor
Jack Thomas
Adam Tipping
Thomas Tribe
Kyle Turner
Stuart Tweedie
Samuel Tyson
Ben van Beelen
Hugo Van Fragstein
Harly Videan
Campbell Wallace
Tom Watkins
Toby Watts
Noah Weatherby
Malachi Welch
Connor Wells
Conor White
Jack White
Rocky Widdowson
Louis Williams
Murray Williams
Christopher Wilson
Charlie Wilson
Connor Wilson
Eliot Wolstencroft
Joseph Wright
Alexander Young
Leon Zarzosa
Tommy Zin
Our Lord of the Flies Ambassadors
Alex Ringham
Cat Chapman
Chloe Challis
Grace Goulding
Hannah McGhee
Hayley Earlam
James Middleton
James Morgan
Kate Pilbeam
Laura Bray
Laura Cherry
Lucy Wild
Luke Saville
Luke Sheppard
Miranda Sheehy
Murilo Leite d'Imperio
Natali McCleary
Sam Broadbent
Sam Cook
Sarah Wallace
Scott Atkins
Shaun Dillon
Sian Rowlands
The History of the Show
World Premiere: 2 March 2011 at Theatre Royal, Glasgow.
Following the success of the production's premiere in 2011 Lord of the Flies embarked on a UK tour in 2014, which brought together a cast of New Adventures dancers and remarkable young talent from across the UK. We visited over 13 cities and engaged over 8,000 young people in dance activity – many for the first time – and delivered 80 performances to some 75,000 audience members.
Following the success of our 2014 tour, the show had its international premiere at Arts Centre Melbourne, Australia in April 2017. New Adventures dancers were joined by a cast of six professional Australian dancers and young talent from across Victoria, Australia.
Company
Photos & Videos
Awards & Reviews
AUSTRALIAN DANCE AWARDS 2018
Patrick Weir as Simon in ‘Lord of the Flies’ nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Dancer
Learn & Explore
Changing Lives Through Dance
Bringing together a professional cast and local boys, Lord of the Flies is a unique New Adventures production for being the first time young people have shared the stage with company dancers on national stages.
In 2011, 15 boys with no professional dance experience were recruited from Glasgow and the surrounding areas to perform the first adaptation of Lord of the Flies by Matthew Bourne and Scott Ambler, in a project led by New Adventures and supported by Ambassador Theatre Group.
Following a successful bid to Arts Council England, a 2014 UK tour of 13 venues was made viable, comprising far more activity than the usual series of performances, including a national programme of workshops in schools, theatres and unexpected venues, including football stadiums and Pupil Referral Units, reaching thousands of boys and young men. Across the country, community dance artists were recruited as Dance Ambassadors for New Adventures, bringing with them local knowledge and expertise in engaging young people in dance.
Over 8,000 boys, coming from all kinds of backgrounds and neighbourhoods, spanning areas of high and low cultural engagement, took part in workshops with Dance Ambassadors. Over thirty percent of the boys asked said they had ‘never danced before’ and around 1 in 6 boys who engaged in the project said they had very little experience. Many of these boys were invited to be part of the young ensemble and perform in their home venue.
In 2017, 23 boys from across Victoria, Australia were chosen to form the Young Ensemble of Lord of the Flies at Arts Centre Melbourne through their community outreach programme, joining a cast of professional dancers from England and Australia.
Since its premier in 2011, Lord of the Flies has changed the way New Adventures work with young people, demonstrating that they thrive when given ambitious and adventurous opportunities and that young men across the country are hungry for creative engagement. Alumni from Lord of the Flies have gone on to train professionally in vocational dance schools including Rambert, Bird College and London Contemporary, progressing on to careers in professional companies and international tours such as Mamma Mia!, Dirty Dancing, Frantic Assembly and some returned to New Adventures to perform in Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet.
Lord of the Flies inspired a new generation of audiences and changed lives through dance.
I learned I love to dance...it's put me on the right path and just just turned my life upside down!
Thomas Kerek, Young Cast (Aberdeen)
Find out more about our projects and workshops
Call us on +44 (0)1252 597 050 or email office@new-adventures.net