AD: Press Ticket
Content Warning: sexual assault, misogyny, disordered eating and body dysmorphia.
Never before in society has the question ‘what are you looking at?’ been more relevant or timely. In a world where social media perfection is the norm, the way that we as humans handle our relationships with our own bodies is constantly in question. But is this a new phenomenon, or has this state existed for as long as we dare to remember?
Billed as a response to, not an adaptation of, William Golding’s Lord of The Flies, Flies investigates the experience of growing up as a young person who was assigned female at birth, the challenges that come with this and the experience of being trapped within a space that you have no control over. Written by Charlie Josephine (I, Joan, The Globe), directed by Julia Head (Romeo and Juliet, Bristol Old Vic), and co-produced and co-commissioned by Boundless Theatre and Shoreditch Town Hall, Flies an explosive, high energy one-act social commentary about the value placed upon the bodies of young people against their will.
One of the most striking elements of the piece is the set design. Upon entering the stunning Shoreditch Town Hall venue, the audience are brought into a photo studio environment with a clean white backdrop and all the tools of the trade – a clothing rack, a laptop and most importantly a single camera pointing towards the centre of the stage. The cast were already on stage as we entered, posing as if they were part of a photo shoot we might expect from a girl band or a magazine cover. The pre-show playlist added to the photoshoot feel, with a mixture of high-intensity and familiar pop songs filling the space, as if they were the songs being selected to energise models on a photoshoot.
Energy is the key way to describe this piece. Throughout the performance we are introduced to the seven girls who had greeted us upon entering the space, with the group beginning to break the fourth wall as soon as the show begins. Immediately we’re asked the recurring question that centres the piece: “what are you looking at?” – being egged on by the cast, being made to laugh and being brought into the narrative space that they are in. By breaking the fourth wall so early on within the piece, it grounds the audience within the space and makes it very clear that the next 75 minutes of performance are not always going to be the most comfortable to watch.
This breaking of the fourth wall is maintained throughout the piece, with ‘The Writer’ being frequently referenced by the characters. Never referenced by name, ‘The Writer’ becomes an omnipresent being within the space, whose correct pronouns are not confirmed until mid way through the show. Immediately we’re left questioning our own assumed bias and left deconstructing the idea of who is capable of not only creating this narrative, but who is able to fall victim to the male gaze as a whole.
The distinction between the piece focusing on those assigned female at birth and those whose gender identity is a woman is key when approaching this piece. In a world where gender identity is currently being heavily scrutinised, I imagine scenarios where this piece could have taken a much more exclusionary approach. However, the language used throughout the piece is clever and deliberate – this is not a show about ‘being a woman’, but about being assigned female at birth and the unique experiences that come along with that regardless of how an individual’s gender identity sits. This is about how society views these individuals, not how they view themselves.
When this piece is good it is very good. At first, the photoshoot seems like a fun and appropriate setting for a conversation about the male gaze and how female bodies are observed by society. However, we quickly learn that these girls are in fact trapped within the photoshoot space – they are never once allowed to leave the white studio space on the ground. Each time that one of them gets too close or reaches outside of the space for food or for water, there is a punishment for the whole group. In Golding’s novel, the boys are trapped on an island, in this piece the girls are not only trapped within the confines of their own bodies but within a society that determines their worth based on their bodies and how their bodies are perceived – in this case the photo studio is society.
The cast within the piece are also incredibly talented for such young performers. The seven cast members, Afriya-Jasmine Nylander, Annabel Gray, Ellie-Rose Amit, Louisa Hamdi, Pearl Adams, Rosa Amos and Willow Traynor, are all actors or alumni from The Brit School with many of them making their professional debut in this production. All seven of these cast members are individuals to watch, delivering somehow heartbreaking but uplifting characters on to the stage. We learn very little about the characters they are portraying, simply being named ‘Girl 1’ and so forth, but each has enough of a personality that the viewer is able to find both themselves and people that they know within the performance.
Overall, the piece is filled with moments that are designed to make the viewer uncomfortable. The viewer is invited to investigate their own relationship with the female body, be that positive or negative, whether the viewer was assigned female at birth themselves or not. We experience a rapid fire of topics for discussion, including but not limited to: sexual assault, misogyny, male dominance in culture, disordered eating and body dysmorphia. While this rapid fire is intentional, an attack on the senses that represents the realities of life for many young people assigned female at birth, at times it feels like there is an attempt to shoehorn as many topics into a short space of time without fully investigating them.
The main area where I feel the piece lets itself down is not taking intersectionality into account explicitly, and I would love to see how this piece could be developed to consider how the experience of being assigned female at birth is impacted by other societal factors such as race, disability or class. While the piece does briefly touch on sexuality, and the frustrations of one Girl about how even if she were to be gay she couldn’t opt out of the male gaze, there is an opportunity to investigate these areas further. This being said, I would also argue that if the piece had been any longer it would have lost some of its impact, and a 75 minute run time was a good length to communicate the point of the piece without losing the attention of the audience.
This is less of a play and more of a performance piece, but is something that I would recommend that people go and see. It cleverly provides a safe space to question and investigate your own relationship with the female body, whether that is your own body or in general, and will leave you pondering that relationship for many days to come. I am excited and intrigued to see where not only this piece goes next, but also to see the journey of the careers of talented cast starring in the show.
Flies runs at Shoreditch Town Hall until 11 March 2023. Tickets are priced at £18 (£15 for concessions and under 21s) with tickets available from the Shoreditch Town Hall website: shoreditchtownhall.com
A number of pre- and post-show events are taking place over the coming weeks, created in association with Boundless Theatre.
Tue 28 Feb, 6pm – 7.30pm: Boundless Artist Mixer
Calling all Boundless Artists and Boundless Drama Club members… Join us pre-show for some Professional Speed Dating. There will be career chats with the Boundless Team and speedy friend-making with a glass of wine/soft drink – the perfect way to meet new collaborators. Please book via Boundless Drama Club. If you want to attend but aren’t a member of Drama Club, then you can join by clicking here.
Wed 8 Mar, 9pm – 9.30pm: Fuck The Canon Panel for International Women’s Day
From Tarantino’s obsession with feet to impractical superhero costumes, what are the examples of female characters that make you rage? In this post-show discussion, the Flies creative team will debate and discuss their most hated examples, with a more hopeful look at how the gaze can positively change in arts and media. The panel will also include a mystery guest. Booking essential, sign up by clicking here.
Thu 9 Mar, 1pm – 5pm: Theatre Making & Producing Workshop; 6pm – 7.30pm: Boundless Link-Up
Calling all creatives: Join the Boundless Team for an afternoon of talks, Q&A’s and workshop activities centering around theatre making and producing. Following that will be the Boundless Link-Up which will give you the opportunity to meet and network with creatives just like you, over a glass of wine/soft drink. Please note, this workshop and link-up are only available for ticket holders attending Flies on Thu 9 Mar. Click here for more information. Booking essential, sign up by clicking here.
