Running Amok

Nearly every adult in America read William Golding’s Lord of the Flies in middle school and has some memory of the novel’s nonstop, gut-wrenching intensity. Just imagine roping in all of the book’s politics and violence on the compact stage-in-the-round at the Denver Center Theatre Company’s Space Theatre. That’s the task that was given to veteran director Anthony Powell for the DCTC’s fall production of Nigel Williams’s stage adaptation, and only one of many challenges he faced, which also included working with a cast ranging in age from ten to mid-twenties. Four are local actors; the rest were culled from New York’s professional pool.

Not that youth in itself is an obstacle. “We did our first run-through, and they did a great job,” Powell says of his actors, who responded with a “let’s try anything” joie de vivre. “It’s not a long play, but when they all came out, it felt like we were running a little marathon. A lot of characters hardly ever leave the stage, and a lot of the time, everyone’s there. It’s like, ‘Oh, my God, it’s a musical!’ The chorus is always around, and we have to figure out what to do with them.

“You read criticism of the book from over the years, and they all want to look at the characters as archetypes,” Powell continues. “What’s wonderful about this adaptation is that it really is its own creation. It’s not slavish. No one’s completely good or bad in this version. Even Jack has redeeming qualities.”

Draw your own conclusions beginning at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Space Theatre in the Denver Performing Arts Complex; Lord of the Flies continues Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through November 2. For tickets, starting at $41, visit denvercenter.org or call 303-893-4100.

Fridays, Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays, Sundays, 1:30 p.m. Starts: Sept. 26. Continues through Nov. 2, 2014