Talking With the Characters of Lord of the Flies

LEESBURG, VA: Tuscarora High School is putting on “Lord of the Flies” as their fall play. The play is based on the book by William Golding. The story is about a group of British boys who crash landed on an island after their plane was bombed while they were trying to escape England around the year 1950. 

“It’s a very grand opening, dramatic opening. Our plane crashes and we land on this jungle island. It’s very cool,” Michael Anthony said as his character, Ralph, “I didn’t really know them on the plane but I got to know them quite well when we were on the island.”

Ralph, understudied by D’Andre Bullock, is one of the most popular of the boys on the island. He took over as leader when they first landed on the island and tried to be compassionate and keep the peace. Throughout the show, a line is drawn between many of the boys and Ralph leads the side with him, Piggy, Sam, Eric, Perceval, and Simon. 

“Well I think I’m a better leader,” Ralph said, “I don’t mean to be biased. But I think that the fact I don’t initiate any murders, I think it makes me better but I don’t know. I think we shouldn’t kill anyone and I think that makes me better than Jack, but who knows.”

Piggy, played by DJ Levi and understudied by Ava Peach, is almost the stereotypical smart boy. He wears glasses which is a very important factor in his story because without his glasses, he can’t see but his glasses are taken a lot to make fire. Piggy is the one that kept Ralph on the right path and helped with the rules. 

“I really think that Ralphie is a good leader. He and Piggy are great to joke with most of the time,” Perceval stated. 

Sam and Eric, played by Katie Brunton and Elena Brunton, respectively, both understudied by Peyton Gull, are twins. The two of them finish each other’s sentences and are always together. While Sam is the more rational twin, Eric is the more vulnerable twin. Eric freaks out about the beast more than Sam and believes Sam knows everything. 

“Eric is over dramatic and gets scared easily. I don’t,” Sam said. 

Perceval, played by Peach and understudied by Gull, is the youngest of the main boys. Perceval is young enough that he doesn’t quite understand everything that was going on, on the island, thinking that everything that is going on is just a game. 

“I try not to think about some things that happened. Like when everyone went too far when Simon pretended to be the beastie. Ralph was really sad after that. And Sam and Eric were also upset,” Perceval stated, “I also regret going with Jack in the end. His games turned out to not be as fun as I thought they were. They made Maurice really sad too, and I didn’t really understand why until later.” 

Simon, played by Queen Kincaide and understudied by Rachael Giessmann, was part of the choir with Jack, Maurice, Bill, Henry, Sam and Eric. All of these characters are from the school called Godstone. Simon is schizophrenic and hears voices in his head. He also has a small rivalry with Jack because of Jack constantly making fun of him. He was the one to figure out that there really wasn’t any beast, unfortunately, the others heard him in time. 

“I don’t regret anything,” Simon said, “I tried my best to take care of the littluns and make their time on that island less miserable. I definitely tried my hardest to be sensible and make things peaceful regarding our situation. I did everything I could do…” 

Jack, played by Claudia Hunn and understudied by Emma Marfia, is the second leader of the group. He led the choir back at school as choir prefect. He is power hungry and was upset when Ralph was elected chief. As soon as he could, he took charge. Jack believes he is the strongest and best because he killed the first pig on the island. 

“Jack, of course, is the better leader. Ralph is a wimp,” Littlun Gull said, “Jack is very assertive, he knows what he wants and he isn’t scared of anything.” 

Henry, played by Bullock, is one of the hunters and part of the choir under Jack’s rule. Henry didn’t hesitate to join Jack in hunting the pig and immediately snuck off when Jack left to rule on his own, away from Ralph. 

“Jack wants to lead in a different way than Ralph does. Ralph wants to be peaceful and Jack wants to rule the island,” Henry stated. 

Maurice, played by Alex Jones and understudied by Mangovski, is another member of the hunters and the choir. He is almost always with Bill and the two of them goof around all the time. Maurice is one of the most compassionate of the hunters, near the end slowly understanding the bad they were doing but following Jack to keep himself alive. 

“I try not to hold onto regrets, you know? Anything can be beaten with a smile on your face and a good joke or two! If I had to regret anything, I regret not holding my own. Showing people who’s the real big gorilla,” Maurice said, “Why did I help them? Those people didn’t deserve what happened. I regret the lives that were stolen.” 

Bill, played by Marfia, is another hunter and choir member. He is almost always with Maurice. He becomes loyal to Jack and doesn’t seem to find anything wrong with what they were doing after asking Jack what the beast really was and believing him straight away when he said that it could possess someone. 

“Jack is like the father I never had,” Bill said, “I think there is a beast. But I don’t think there is one anymore because we killed it. As Jack said, it was in one man and it moved to another and we killed them. We got rid of the beast, we cleansed the air.” 

Roger, played by MacArthur “Mac” Maryn and understudied by Jones, is a psychotic boy who appeared right after Ralph was elected chief. Roger hides his psychopathic nature until near the end of the show and has a strong loyalty to Jack.

“No, I don’t regret anything I did on the island. It was very fun,” Roger said. 

The littluns, played by Gull and Giessmann, are the youngest characters. They join the hunters because of how easily manipulated they are. 

“I come from the plane,” Littlun Gull stated, “We are from England and the bombs are killing our mums. We were sent to America, but on the way, something happened and our pilot died. I went and hung out with Jack and we are hunters and we eat lots of pig.”

The Naval Officer, played by James Mangovski, comes to save the boys on the island. 

“I would have rather stayed on the island,” Roger said, “After Ralph, it would have been Sam and Eric, Perceval. More and more killing. Death.” 

The idea of rescue differs depending on which boy you talked to. 

“It was bittersweet. I love the island. Unlike Ralph and his crew, we were thriving on the island. We had food, we had shelter, we had fire, so I think I would have been happy to stay on the island where there are no rules, no one to tell me what to do. Although, it is nice knowing that I am safe [sic] after being rescued,” Bill stated. 

“I think rescue was the best thing that could happen. I mean, without it, I’d be dead for sure, so I can only hope that once we get back to the real world that the rest of the boys will get back to normal,” Ralph said. 

The beast’s voice, voiced by Vanzego and understudied for one night by Laird, comes in once during Simon’s monologue when he is talking to a Pig’s Head on a Stick. It is supposed to represent a voice in Simon’s head as he gets overwhelmed and passes out on his search for the beast. 

“There is no physical beast,” Simon said, “The beast actually stands for the instinct of savagery that lives within all of us. That’s why they all fear the beast, because it exists with them already.”

“There is a beastie! There is! I saw it with my own eyes. It was big and scary and had glowing eyes and big teeth. It was very still, but so are a lot of big animals when they are on the hunt. Ralphie and Simon always say that there isn’t a beastie, but they didn’t see it like I did,” Perceval said. 

The actors are excited for their last few shows, especially their last show which is their Cappies show. 

“People should come see our show because it is a slice of life reflection on people and more thinking about everybody instead of just yourself,” Bullock stated. 

To see Tuscarora Performing Arts’ Fall play of “Lord of the Flies” use this link https://tuscarora.booktix.com/ to buy tickets. The showings are at 7pm on November 17th, 18th, and 19th, the Cappies show.