Lord of the Flies and Pigs' Heads

The Lord of the Flies set depicting a tropical island is taking shape. One of the set builders, Alex McCubbin, let slip that he was once in a production of the play at Henley College that used a real pig's head. There is a scene that calls for a pig's head to be carried around on a stick and they manged to get a local butcher to supply a new one every night. The actor who had to put the pig's head on the stick was a vegetarian and really didn't enjoy the experience.

Liz Carrol is responsible for props in Progress's production and she decided against the butchers option. At one point she did consider using a pig's head to get the skull and did some research on the internet. She gave up on the idea  after discovering that it takes weeks and involves insects to get the last of the brains out!

What she did in the end she describes as an interesting process involving a mask and expanding foam. She mysteriously added that during the creation there was a mistake which was eventually turned into gristle and bone. As you can see from this photo it looks gruesomely realistic - I should have started this blog with one of those "some views may find this upsetting" warnings.

If you are interested in what goes on at Progress Theatre then sign up to this blog. Enter your email in the box under ‘about us’ and click on subscribe. New postings are made weekly so you won’t be swamped with emails. 

Coming up -

You can still auditions for Reading Open Air 2012 Henry IV Part 1 on Wednesday 14th March 7.30pm or Sunday 18th March 12pm at Progress Theatre

Auditions for Mine by Polly Teale, Sunday 11th March 2.30 or Tuesday 13th March 7.30pm at Progress Theatre

Progress Youth Theatre Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Monday 19th March to Saturday 24th March 2012, Progress Theatre

Classic Writing - Double Bill, Gaggle of Saints, by Neil LaBute and Handbagged, by Moira Buffini, 10 Apr - 14 Apr 2012, Progress Theatre

See Progress Theatre website for details of all our productions and auditions.

Lord of the Flies

Progress Youth Theatre are producing an innovative take on Lord of the Flies adapted by Nigel Williams from the William Golding novel. They are playing it with an all female cast. The play has been done before with girls playing boys but has never been done with all the genders switched. They had to get permission from the rights holders which took a while but was eventually granted.

Some of the cast rehearsing last Sunday

This production has given me a chance to clear some clutter from my house. A call went out for any donations of old school shirts and it was stressed that they should be ones not needed any more as they would not be returned. I managed to find about ten hanging in my children's cupboards that no longer fit them. For those of you who don't know, the play is set on a dessert island and follows a group of children who survive a plane crash and then have to live without adult supervision. There are about 15 girls in the cast and all need at least two, possibly three shirts each so that they can start of reasonably smart when they first arrive on the island and then get progressively dirtier as the play progresses. Producer Liz Carrol collected the shirts, rubbed them in dirt and then hung them on her washing line. What on earth did the neighbours think?


If you are interested in what goes on at Progress Theatre then sign up to this blog. Enter your email in the box under ‘about us’ and click on subscribe. New postings are made weekly so you won’t be swamped with emails. 

Coming up -

Auditions for Reading Open Air 2012 Henry IV Part 1 Wednesday 7th March 7.30pm or Wednesday 14th March 7.30pm or Sunday 18th March 12pm at Progress Theatre

Auditions for Mine by Polly Teale, Sunday 11th March 2.30 or Tuesday 13th March 7.30pm at Progress Theatre

Progress Youth Theatre Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Monday 19th March to Saturday 24th March Progress Theatre

See Progress Theatre website for details of all our productions and auditions.