Lord of the Flies

Notes from the Director

We've been fascinated by the idea of mounting Lord of the Flies for several years now, and the time has never seemed more right. It has been 50 years since William Golding wrote this masterpiece, and sometimes it seems like we haven't learned a thing. But we¹re out to change that for ourselves and those of you who choose to travel with us today.

The theatre is one of the last great community gathering places - here we meet to examine, both literally and symbolically, the meaning of our place in the world and, on a smaller scale, in our communities. Nestled in our seats, we are safe to ponder what we really think, to dig deep to our primal fears and to gain a new perspective, to reinvigorate our long-held beliefs or to move beyond them to new vistas. We hope this play will move you in ways both pleasant and unpleasant. We also hope you will stay and talk to your fellow community members after the show and join in this evening's panel discussion - let the performance be only the beginning of the conversation, not the end.

You probably know the story already - in Lord of the Flies, a first world government, as represented by an island of shipwrecked schoolboys, stretches the boundaries of their democracy until it breaks, with disastrous consequences.

Golding's themes are many and effortless‹he addresses imperialism, militarism, the English public school system, sports - but they all boil down to two big questions: is human nature redeemable and can people learn to live together in peace? His answer is "no," but ours must be "yes." In these unsettled times, people all across the political spectrum are fearful and angry, and this widespread panic and divisiveness itself weakens our democracy by making people feel powerless over their own lives. How critical is it to keep taking part in the dialogue, no matter how hard it gets? It's simple to see in the play: working together, the boys achieve small victories - working at cross-purposes, they kill and are killed.

Many people have postulated that if the island in Flies had been populated by girls, the outcome would have been different. We disagree. Girls may have a different style about them, but they are as subject to human nature as boys are. Even now, girls are becoming increasingly more violent, more likely to join gangs - apparently picking up the stereotypically bad traits of boys but not the good. We hope our casting will help illuminate not male violence, not female violence, but human violence‹how it rises even from good intentions, the forms it takes, and the ways we can prevent it from tearing our nation and our neighborhoods apart.

As you watch this performance, ask yourself what you would do if you were on this island.

You are on this island.

Now what are you going to do about it?

-Erin Merritt

Bios

The Fly Girls (and Boy)

• Lizzie Calogero (Piggy)
  • Liizie Calogero is a member of Woman's Will and an alumna of four Woman's Will shows: Two Gentlemen of Verona, Coriolanus, Pericles and Othello. She has also performed at the Magic Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival and with TheatreFirst among others. She was most recently seen in Eclipsed with Wilde Irish Productions.
• Jennifer Dean (Ralph)
  • Jennifer Dean has a B.A. in Theatre from UCLA and has done graduate work at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London and Circle in the Square in New York. In the Bay Area, she has performed with Bare Bones Theater Company, Custom Made Theater Company, Durable Theater, First Seen and Three Wise Monkeys. She founded La Vache Enragée Productions (www.lveproductions.com) with which she has produced Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen-Love's Fire, Mac Wellman's Dracula and most recently David Mamet's Speed the Plow.
• Jenny Debevec (Jack)
  • Jenny Debevec was recently seen in As You Like It with Woman's Will. An award-winning vocalist, Jenny teaches music and computers and is developing after school theatre programs for schools lacking performing arts education. She is a member of Theatre Bay Area. She would like to dedicate this performance to the late Norm, our little pot-bellied pig with a big attitude.
• J. Tiffany Holland (Simon)
  • This is Ms. Holland's third show with Woman's Will: she made her Woman's Will debut as Morocco in Merchant of Venice, and then performed title role in Othello. She is also a drama teacher in the company's Education department. Originally a North Carolina native, Ms. Holland has worked in the Bay Area with TheatreWorks, Theatre Rhinoceros and The Chameleon Theatre Company. When not acting, she teaches at Edna Brewer Middle School in Oakland and teaches and directs with Young Performer's Theatre. She also tries to get to as many Hip Hop dance classes as she can.
• Rena Morabe (Sam)
  • Lord of the Flies is Ms. Morabe's first production with Woman's Will. Her latest role was Katerina in an all-female production of The Taming of the Shrew at the Santa Rosa Junior College-style sound familiar? In the future, she plans to start a theatre company that educates school children about the environment.
• L.A. Renigen (Eric)
  • L.A. Renigen is excited to be baptized into the Woman's Will World with Lord of the Flies. She has been seen around the Bay Area writing and performing her own work with Tongue in a Mood, Teatro ng Tanan, Bindlestiff Pinay Collective, and Bindlestiff Studios, the epicenter for Filipino-American performing arts. Favorite past roles include Sarah Jane Moore in Assassins, Saling in Drowning in Sand, and a company member of Bill Peter's In Light of Recent Events. Film work includes the title role in The Red Hen, and Libby in feature film, Goodbye, Guy Guy, both with Two Rats Films. She holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from San Francisco State University and currently works at Teatro ZinZanni.
• Zuzka Sabata (Maurice)
  • Zuzka Sabata was schooled at the Dell'Arte School of Physical Theatre. She creates original work with her clown partner in their company The Czechs Underground. You will be able to see them in October in the Tenderloin during the Street Theatre Festival. Most recently she worked and work-shopped with the San Francisco Mime Troupe.
• Tiffani Sierra (Henry)
  • Tiffani Sierra feels extremely excited and empowered to be working with Women's Will. She was last seen in Honour at the Mendocino Theatre Company. Some of her favorite Bay Area performamces include: A Doll's House and Measure for Measure. She was also seen at The New Conservatory Theatre performing in their Youth Aware program. She is a Meisner trained actor who has studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York as well as in San Francisco.
• Sarah Smithton (Percival)
  • Ms. Smithton, a Marin County 8th grader, has been acting since she was 8. Favorite roles and plays include Annie in Annie (Best Principal Actress-Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle), Young Gwen in Dorian (in L.A.), A Play on Words, Little Red Riding Hood in Into the Woods, Meg in The Right Step, Quilters, and Oliver.
• Sigrid Sutter (Roger)
  • Ms. Sutter is thrilled to be making her debut at Woman's Will with such a talented and inspiring cast and crew. She was last seen in the Bay Area Playwrights Festival and has worked with Actors Theatre of Sonoma County, Uncle Sid's Theatre Group and PlayGround. Favorite roles include Lydia in Big Love, Viola in Twelfth Night and Basketcase in The Breakfast Club. Ms. Sutter holds a BA in Theatre from Sonoma State University.
• Wendell H. Wilson (Beast/Officer)
  • Mr. Wilson has been acting in the Bay Area for 6 years. Most recently he appeared in Foothill Musical Theatre's Ragtime. Some of his other credits include: My Fair Lady (Busker/Ensemble), Annie (Drake), A Chorus Line (Richie), Hair (Berger/Hud), Working (Lovin' Al), Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey II-The Plant), A Comedy of Errors (Dr. Pinch), and La Cage aux Folles (Jacob the maid).

Lords of the Fly Girls (and Boy)

• Erin Merritt (Director)
  • This is Woman's Will Artistic Director Erin Merritt's seventh directing project with the company; she has also choreographed fights for five, and acted in four, most recently As You Like It. Ms. Merritt has also worked in the Bay Area and beyond with such companies as Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Shotgun Players, Center REPertory Company, Pacific Repertory Theatre, Willows Theatre Company, Unconditional Theatre, and Washington's Taproot Theatre Company and Interplayers Ensemble. Favorite past roles include The Woman in Scotland Road, Li'l Bit in How I Learned to Drive, and the title role in Sylvia. Ms. Merritt is also a member of Theatre Bay Area and its Theatre Services Committee.
• Tammy Berlin (Costumes)
  • Ms. Berlin comes from Chicago, where she was the Artistic Director of Heroes Inc. Ensemble and Transient Theatre and the Managing Director of the Playwrights Center. In the Bay Area, she has designed for Oakland Public Theatre, Second Wind, Altarena Players, Wilde Irish, and Central Works.
• Annye Bone (Stage Manager)
  • Annye Bone is very pleased to be working with Woman's Will for the first time. She married unknowingly into the theatrical community, and loves being amazed at the magic that actors can -and do-create, but her heart is on the tech crew. Her accomplishments in the field of stage management include working on twelve shows in her first twenty-four months, all of them paid positions.
• Lisa Giglio (Dramaturg)
  • Lisa Giglio primarily teaches and directs in the Bay Area. She holds a BA in Theatre from SFSU and an MFA in directing from Middlesex University in London. Happy to work in many capacities, she is enjoying researching this project for Woman's Will. Ms. Giglio also works as a choreographer, on script development, curriculum development, acting coach and as an actor.
• Steven Lew (Sound)
  • Stephen Lew has composed music for theater and dance since 1987. Recently he composed the music for Woman's Will's 2004 production of As You Like It, and appeared as Jacek (the bass player) in the San Francisco production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. He has appeared locally with such groups as The Billy Nayer Show, Eskimo, Casino Royale, Idiot Flesh, and Charming Hostess.
• Amanda Melton (Lights)
  • Ms. Melton graduated this past May with a B.A. in Theatre Arts from San Francisco State University. At SF State, her designs included The One Act Festival: Multiplex, Unexpected Song, and several dance pieces. Before joining the cast and crew of Lord of the Flies, Ms. Melton most recently designed lights for New Conservatory Theatre's production of Dirty Blonde.
• Alison Tassie (Sets/Props)
  • Alison Tassie has worked in various capacities in Bay Area theatre for over twenty years. Most recently she has designed for the Shee Company and for Exit Theatre. This is her third design for Woman's Will, and she is delighted to be participating in the production of this classic.

Multimedia

Photos

Click on a thumbnail to view the larger version.

Photos: Elizabeth Allen

(standing) Lizzie Calogero (kneeling) Jennifer Dean

(left) Jennifer Dean (middle) Lizzie Calogero (right) Jenny Debevec

(left) Tiffani Sierra (right) Rena Morabe