The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Show reviews
  • Music
    • Live music
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureTheatre

The Flies at the Bunker

The Flies at the Bunker | Theatre review
14 June 2019
Jim Compton-Hall
Avatar
Jim Compton-Hall
14 June 2019

This is an interesting collaboration with a live rock band, but ultimately a disappointing return for Jean-Paul Sartre’s The Flies.

The story is adapted from Greek mythology, taking place in the city of Argos that is currently controlled by Aegisthus and Clytemnestra after they murdered Agamemnon. To retain their control and keep order, the pair spread fear among the citizens. But Agamemnon’s children, Orestes and Electra, come together to end the hatred.

Satre originally wrote The Flies in 1943 as a commentary on resisting and rebelling against Nazism. Exchange Theatre brought it to audiences in 2009 in reference to the fear mongering around weapons of mass destruction. And now they bring it back again because of Brexit; it’s is the latest casualty in a three-year obsession of saying “that play kind of relates to Brexit so let’s just give it a run without worrying about quality”.

What is interesting about this production is the band and A Riot in Heaven play live on stage throughout the performance, from laying down incredibly tense and eerie atmospheric tones to full-blown explosive music. It’s a really cool collaboration and the sound the musicians produce with just an electric guitar, bass and drums is wicked. But the rest of the show feels incredibly bloated. Half of every scene could be cut without being missed, making the whole thing rather tiring to watch. 

A mic stand sits innocuously in the background, providing hope that the misery will soon be broken by a rock out with the band. Unfortunately, the three songs, if they can be called such, shatter that hope like a four-inch fall shatters an iPhone screen.

Singing aside, the cast aren’t bad, though they seem a bit under-rehearsed, often tripping over their lines, and Meena Rayann, as Electra, is the only performer who ever really shows any proper emotion.

Aided by the great music, and some unintelligible shouting through a megaphone, The Flies definitely generates tension and suspense, and the set is also pretty effective in creating a fearful, almost apocalyptic environment, with broken tech and TV screens strewn about, displaying propaganda. But The Flies is ultimately undercut by a complete lack of anything engaging.

★★★★★

Jim Compton-Hall
Photo: Camille Dufrénoy

The Flies is at the Bunker from 11th June until 16th July 2019. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.

Related Itemsreview

More in Theatre

Rita at Charing Cross Theatre

★★★★★
Mae Trumata
Read More

Ed Fringe 2022: Hungry

★★★★★
Ella Satin
Read More

Royal Ballet School students return to the stage for post-Covid performances

The editorial unit
Read More

“Theatre is totally unique… there’s simply nothing else quite like it”: An interview with Sir Howard Panter as the new cast of Jersey Boys opens at Trafalgar Theatre

Natallia Pearmain
Read More

Jersey Boys bring on a new cast at Trafalgar Theatre

Natallia Pearmain
Read More

All of Us at the National Theatre

★★★★★
Mersa Auda
Read More

Midsummer Mechanicals at Sam Wanamaker Playhouse

★★★★★
Alexandra Fletcher
Read More

Camden Fringe 2022: The Importance of Being Anxious at Museum of Comedy

★★★★★
James Humphrey
Read More

Camden Fringe 2022: Rome 3000 (Julius Caesar) at Canal Cafe Theatre

★★★★★
Cristiana Ferrauti
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Theatre review

Jim Compton-Hall

The Flies

★★★★★

Dates

11th June - 16th July 2019

Price

£10-£16

Links & directions

TwitterInstagramFacebookWebsiteMap

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Nope
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Ed Fringe 2022: Hungry
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Kasabian – The Alchemist’s Euphoria
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Eiffel
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Royal Ballet School students return to the stage for post-Covid performances
    Theatre
  • Kasabian – The Alchemist’s Euphoria
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Rita at Charing Cross Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Ed Fringe 2022: Hungry
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • “Even people who’ve been through adversity might say ‘Well, I wouldn’t change anything because I wouldn’t be who I am'”: Eva Noblezada and Flula Borg on Luck
    Cinema & Tv
  • “Film offers a way of looking at the past, the present and the future simultaneously. That’s its wonder”: Sarah Beddington on Fadia’s Tree
    Cinema & Tv
  • Kasabian – The Alchemist’s Euphoria
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Rita at Charing Cross Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • “Even people who’ve been through adversity might say ‘Well, I wouldn’t change anything because I wouldn’t be who I am'”: Eva Noblezada and Flula Borg on Luck
    Cinema & Tv
  • Nope
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Five Days at Memorial
    ★★★★★
    apple
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why
With the support from:
International driving license

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

J’Ouvert at Theatre 503 | Theatre review
The Future at Battersea Arts Centre | Theatre review