Conflicted

So I had been hearing rumblings of this happening, but I've kind of been denying it. I would seem the nice people over at Roundhouse have decided to do Nigel William's adaptation of Lord of the Flies.

Some of you may remember my directorial debut in Washington with 2002's Lord of the Flies. Not only was this a great opportunity for me, but it brought together with many of my friends, even introduced a few popular actors to Washington.

To be blunt, I loved that show - and still do - and it saddens me that it's memory may be eclipsed by a new production at a larger theater. This is petty of course, theater must continue to be re-envisioned in order for it to grow and continue to be relevant. But I feel such an ownership of the piece that it is difficult for me to let it go - but I have to keep telling myself that Michael Kahn doesn't get this way every time someone does Hamlet or Richard III.

The pictures are from the 2002 production, you may recognize actors like Jason Stiles, Hugh Owen, Karl Miller, Maggie Glauber, and Evan Casey. More detail on the production can be found here. I do take the solace that most of these actors and the design team will never forget the experience.

Karl Miller was catapulted into Roundhouse's Cherry Orchard because of this show, Matt Soule(set) and Adam Magazine(lights) both received Mary Goldwater Awards for their work on the show, the show itself was the very first Rorschach show to extend it's run as well as being the first show in Casa del Pueblo.

Nor can I fail to acknowledge my great friends Kate Norris and Scot McKenzie who served as dramaturg and fight partner respectively. Not that the actors would know them, Kate and Scot were in She Stoops to Conquer (which I would join them in for for the last week of their run) at the Folger at the time and I would pick them up after rehearsal, go back to my house where Scot and I would fight in the living room while Kate kept feeding me research (historical and psychological.) I would stop when something needed more thought or was particularly interesting, then Scot would use this opportunity to take me off guard - resulting in a very savage fighting style and a well thought out psychological/social structure for the lads on the island.

I still have the pig head in a closet at my house. It only stopped bleeding a year or so ago - that's true, and gross.

And just a piece of advice to Blake: "Sucks to your Asmar'" is not in Nigel's adaptation - look for a place to put it in, your audience will thank you.