Lads of the Flies

Lads of the Flies by Grace Donaldson | 2-10 August 2024 | 4pm | The Space @ Niddry Street

When a group of four teenage boys (all played by female-presenting actors) get lost in the wilderness on their Duke of Edinburgh trip, they feud, flirt and fornicate in a way that forces us (and them) to ask – is there any hope for the modern man?

Upon getting stranded, school rugby captain Lewis appoints himself leader of the pack and vows to lead his peers to safety. Now, all he has to do is try not to fall in love with his childhood best friend Kieran. Or be converted into a misogynist by Reddit-enthusiast Baxter. Or accidentally feed magic mushrooms to the class nerd Peter.

Created by a team of solely student theatre-makers, Lads of the Flies is a bitingly funny satire of the performativity of gender and the artifice of patriarchal masculinity. Utilising elements of metatheatre and innovative cross-gender casting, the play comedically re-examines its iconic source material through a radically queer and feminist lens. Throughout the 50-minute runtime, a slew of current pop-cultural references provide razor-sharp insight into the ever-relevant themes of puberty, sexuality and what it means to be a man in the modern world.

Written and directed by Grace Donaldson and assistant directed by Sophie Gattis, the play was first performed at a new writing festival at the University of Glasgow in 2024. The team completed their run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with multiple five-star reviews and sold-out shows. They were also shortlisted for two Scottish Theatre Awards by the Scottish Arts Club.