Flies – Shoreditch Town Hall, London (LAST CHANCE TO SEE)

An experiment in theatrical writing, Flies subverts, deconstructs and analyses the male gaze, misogyny and the patriarchy. A lot to tackle in a short 70 minutes.

Flies

I came to see Flies for two reasons. Firstly and inconsequentially I like trying out new venues, and had never been to the Shoreditch Town Hall before. Verdict: quite a nice theatre space in the council chamber, and a cosy little bar for a pre-show drink. More importantly though, I was here because Flies is the work of Charlie Josephine. It’s been a while since I saw them as a stand-out actor in Metamorphoses at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. And I somehow failed to go and see their version of Joan of Arc, I, Joan, at the Globe. Flies felt like a good opportunity to catch up a little and see how their writing compares to their acting.

Flies is an ensemble work for seven young actors. It is about girls on the verge of womanhood, beginning to understand how the world sees them. With a caveat that when I say girls/women I mean people assigned female at birth, rather than making assumptions about gender identity. This is an important point. The playwright’s voice is strong in Flies, and is referred to first as ‘she’ by the characters, before they switch to Josephine’s preferred pronoun ‘they’. There’s a section which considers what impact identity or sexuality might have on the consideration or perpetuation of the male gaze. Gender politics are anything but simple. Flies does not answer all of these questions but leaves them as points to consider.

But back to my main point, which is explaining the structure of Flies to you. You’ve already got a flavour of it, I think. The seven characters are unnamed, but over the course of 70 minutes bare their souls to each other and the audience. How it feels to be sexualised from a young age. The conflict of feeling elated by male attention, then feeling icky about it. Female pleasure. Violence against women. Wanting to take up space. Trying to live up to society’s expectations. Not a plot as such but a series of thoughts and experiences.

Experiments In Structure And Style

The ‘Flies’ of the title is a reference to Lord of the Flies. Not that there are many parallels (well there are to some extent, say for instance the group of same-sex young people, Cat Fuller’s set design that ‘traps’ them within the island of a photographer’s studio). It’s more a jumping off point, to consider the literary canon and how overwhelmingly male it is. Male authors, male characters, male stories. Even, Josephine argues, a male structure to the narrative arc. Flies very consciously aims to subvert this. Rather than building to a climax (take that word how you will), Flies does something completely different. It has a more cyclical structure. Is self-referential. Has an unapologetically intrusive narrator. Having seen Josephine on stage I can imagine their presence behind the words acted out by the ensemble.

That isn’t to say that this is a perfect work. Like many experiments, Flies is interesting for its potential. It captures so well the experience of growing up as a woman, of the uncertainty of having to take up a place in the world that you’re not comfortable with, that is shaped around the desires and comfort of men. Its subversion of the voyeuristic role between the audience and cast is interesting. But are our expectations about theatrical narratives perhaps too entrenched to be ready for a structure like this? Maybe.

One thing is very certain: Flies has a talented cast. All are students or recent graduates of the BRIT School, and many make their professional debuts here. Afriya-Jasmine Nylander, Annabel Gray, Ellie-Rose Amit, Louisa Hamdi, Pearl Adams, Rosa Amos and Willow Traynor all contribute honest and relatable individual performances and, I hope, have successful careers ahead of them. This is a work worth seeing, whatever your gender, age or background. A powerful experience and a challenging experiment in theatrical storytelling.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3.5/5

Flies on until 11 March 2023