Reverend Hellfire's Sunday Sermon

FLY LORDS

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I had an idea for a Play the other day,

after a Nostalgic search for a missing drug dealer took me on an unexpectedly protracted Odyssey thru various dubious haunts in Housing Commission Land. In any event, one such Haunt, and it’s disturbing Denizens, made such an Impression on me

that I was immediately inspired to use

said Haunt & Denizens in a Theatrical Production.

(Hell, you could even make a Movie of it and do it on the Cheap, like Resevoir Dogs.)

And not just any Play either! For it occurred to me that I had found the perfect Venue/Setting for a new, revitalised version of that Iconic ’60’s novel/film by William Golding,

“The Lord of the Flies”

But this time instead being located on a lonely Island setting, I’ll reset it in the dank Underground Carpark

of a block of Housing Commission Flats.

So yes, imagine if you will, as they used to say on the Twilight Zone, the dank Underground Carpark of a block of Housing Commission Flats; all stained concrete & flickering fluorescent lights, with the smell of dampness, urine & cheap disinfectant (We’ll splash some around the theatre before the show to create that special ambience)

Across the stage a row of roller doors in front of each parking bay, most open or mostly open, faces the audience. One roller, centre stage, is completely closed however, with a cartoon-style Palm Tree on a Desert Island spray-painted on it; a semi-circle of yellow sand sitting in a wine-dark Sea, beneath a Sky of Volkswagon Blue. (A nod to the original setting)

A couple of over-flowing bins sit behind a chain link enclosure to one side. You just know someone will end up imprisoned in the cage.

The remains of toys & bikes litter the garage.

Dead-eyed children are likewise scattered through-out, like a Giant’s toys carelessly tossed aside.

A younger child in a hoody sits on a tricycle near the glowing green “Exit” sign, on the far left of the stage. The child repetitively rolls forward half a pace, then backward half a pace, in a classic display of Post-Traumatic Obssesive/Compulsive behaviour.

They act as “Cockatoo” for the Tribe, issuing a sharp warning whistle when Outsiders approach. Otherwise the Cockatoo remains remain silent throughout the Play.

Occasionally an Adult or two will pass through the Set engaged on business of their own. They are aware of the feral kids staring at them with mute hostility, but they don’t interact with them, instead pretending not to notice them or feigning indifference.

The Children regard all such Adult intrusions into their Domain with a Silent, Sullen Suspicion. All Action immediately ceases and the progress of the Play is suspended until the Intruder departs.

At the far right of the Stage, the end roller-door is almost completely closed, only a small gap remains at the bottom, just wide enuff for a Child to crawl through.

A dim red light and the occasional snatch of a radio playing softly seeps out thru the gap

It is here that the Beast lurks in it’s Lair.

Who is the Beast, in the End? In the Movie it was a dead pilot and his parachute. Perhaps the Beast here will be revealed to be an overdosed Junkie, sitting in a car on blocks. Or perhaps it is one of the Childrens’ Father, who gassed themselves in a car-exhaust suicide last Christmas.

Whichever the Beast’s ultimate Identity, the Beast’s Monsterhood is an element of Faith amongst the tribe; Collective memory of the Legendary Past recalls the Beast’s Girlfriend screaming

“You turn into a Monster every time you have a Drink!”

shortly before her own tumultuous departure from the Housing Block in a yellow cab.

Piggy pronounes that his Mother said that it’s just a Homeless Person..a Derelict, who lives there.

The littlest child, in a tiny voice whispers,

“My mother says he’s a Wild Beast”

and so forth and so on.

It occurs to me now, that when the Play’s power struggle comes to occur and they split into two warring tribes, we could make the Tribes gender-based, which would set up some interesting dynamics.

Or we could make it an all Girl cast, ethnically diverse of course, and get praise for my “Inclusivity” & Cultural Sensitivity. Hmm, probably make it easier to get Arts Funding too, with that sort of “tick the box” PC approach.

At any rate, I think we can all agree that once the Set & Setting is established this thing pretty much writes itself and the Method becomes the Motive.

In the End the contents of one of the bins is set on fire,

and, amidst the acrid smoke, the “Rescue Party on the Beach” Scene plays out, but instead of a some Naval Officer types turning up in a row boat we have a couple of Cops and a Social Worker paying a Welfare Check after a report on the Garages’ inhabitants and their questionable activities. Maybe the smoke will actually set off the fire alarms & sprinklers in the theatre. In the ensuing chaos Firefighters (or are they Actors? We won’t know unless someone dies) rush in with hoses and axes and drive the sodden audience out with well-directed torrents of water, and all in all ensuring the most spectacularly chaotic end to a Play since the Living Theatre‘s lead character overdosed during an overly realistic performance in the notoriously drug-themed production, “The Fix”.

If nothing else I’m sure this Production will illuminate the Point that you don’t have to be marooned on a Desert Island to descend into Isolation, Alienation & Tribalism.

Yes, and Children aren’t just abandoned in the Wilderness

but on the streets and in the carparks & alleys of our cities & suburbs.

Yes, the idea could be a lot of fun to play around with, but it also sounds like a lot of hard work at my time of Life, and so I generously pass this Concept into the Public Domain to let the World do with the Idea what it will, and as my reward perhaps one day

I’ll have the Pleasure of seeing it staged,

and perhaps the even greater Pleasure

of finally getting some Royalty Cheques

that are worth cashing.

If you zoom & look very closely, you can see the Reverend Hellfire (in hat), reflected in this Fly’s shiny Butt!

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The Reverend Hellfire..

Born Free,

now available in Chain Stores everywhere.

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Posted in Uncategorized
Tags: alternate realities, archtypes, humour, Living Theatre, Lord of the Flies, satire, Theatre, Theatre of Cruelty, Tribalism, William Golding