Flies, Boundless Theatre Shoreditch Town Hall

★★★★★

Reviewer - Bronagh

*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review.

Please note that Flies contains reference to Sexual Assualt, Misogyny, Disordered Eating and Body Dysmorphia. It also features Strong Language, Loud Noises, Flashing Lights, Strobe, Fog, Vaping and Blood.

Flies is a new show, exploring real life tales of girlhood and all that comes with it; the pressure to look a certain way, to act a certain way, to keep yourself safe, to please.

Award-winning writer Charlie Josephine (I, Joan, The Globe) radically responds to William Golding’s classic Lord of the Flies in this new piece entitled Flies.

The show begins with a very uncomfortable standoff between the cast and audience members, who are being asked ‘what are they looking at’. At first, this did make me squirm, and this was to be the tone for the show. Honest and uncomfortable tales are shared; from being catcalled while in school uniform, to admitting to, at first, enjoying the male attention. The discomfort lasted throughout, in a way that was extremely powerful. The relatability of some stories shared is staggering. One moment that stood out to me was the story around getting home safe, where it was clear that you couldn’t win if you walked or got a taxi. This stood out to me, as only an hour earlier I decided to not walk to simple half-hour route to the theatre as I remembered there was recently an attack in a park I would have to walk past.

The cast is made up of seven Brit School graduates, who all shone and put on an exceptional performances. The lines between them being in character and out of character are blurred and they give it their all. Their disgust and upset at how the male gaze has made them feel is extremely clear, at some points several cast members looked on the brink of tears. Whether this was their ‘character’ or their own anger or frustration, I can’t say. But given the nature of some stories, I’d assume the latter.

Flies, Boundless Theatre, photo credit Chelsey Cliff, performance design credit Cat Fuller (3).jpg

Flies, Boundless Theatre, photo credit Chelsey Cliff, performance design credit Cat Fuller (7).jpg

Emotions run high throughout, and there are some laughs too. There are moments where the cast dance together, images not too dissimilar to dancing with your friends in a nightclub. Normal moments, which are then shattered by another story of what it means to be at the mercy of the male gaze. Moments that many of us have experienced.

The set was simple, small, and it worked. It was mainly made up of a projector screen, where at one point we are presented with images of women over time; schoolgirl Britney Spears, Kate Upton’s infamous dancing clip, and Renaissance paintings. Images of women being fetishised. There is a rail of clothes also; this was used by one cast member to pick out some trousers to hide period blood on her leg. This is a powerful moment, where something completely natural is seemingly taboo, and must be hidden.

Flies is an extremely important show, a complete must-see. The male gaze is something that we are all aware of. Flies fights back, gives women a platform and puts them on top.

Flies is performing at Shoreditch Town Hall until 11 March. All ticket information is available here.