Teenage rampage in Lord of the Flies

To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Pilot Theatre Company has revived its award-winning production of Lord of the Flies, Nigel Williams’s interpretation of William Golding’s classic novel.

A group of schoolboys are marooned on a deserted island after some unspecified nuclear event. Without adults or rules, their fragile sense of order begins to collapse. As their games take on a more sinister significance, this once well-behaved group of kids turns into a bloodthirsty, murderous tribe.

First published in 1955, Lord of the Flies remains the definitive account of descent into teen barbarism — it is still referenced today by artists from Stephen King to U2, The Simpsons and Lost. When Williams’s stage version premiered in 1998, it was declared Tarantino-esque.

But, 10 years on, how will it stand up in an era of reality TV, where contestants are queuing up to be castaways? Will it still be as heart-stoppingly terrifying?

I caught the production early on in the tour in York (where Pilot is based), and you could hear a pin drop. A terrific multimedia interpretation, it is half physical theatre, half choreography. The opening plane crash is tremendously powerful — the boys leap and clamber over the wrecked plane which dominates the stage like a giant bird of prey.

All the set pieces are here — the hunt for "the beast", the heartbreaking scene where they steal Piggy’s glasses to make fire — underscored by trippy video projection and a high-powered techno and drum & bass soundtrack. But it never overshadows the subtle performances by the eight-strong adult cast. Particularly good are Dominic Doughty as Piggy and Davood Ghadami as Ralph.

Teen bullying is still immensely topical. Pilot artistic director Marcus Romer was invited on to Radio 4’s Today programme to talk about the production.

But for adaptor Nigel Williams, the fraught relationship between Jack (the bully) and people-pleaser Ralph is also a vital political allegory. "They are natural collaborators who fall out, like Trotsky and Stalin. It’s about how government works."

Until Saturday 11 October. Information: 0870 060 6651.

Lord Of The Flies
Richmond Theatre
The Little Green, TW9 1QJ