Henley Street and young actors take on 'Lord of the Flies'

Theater director Josh Chenard takes philosophy in stride. During a break from a rehearsal in the basement of Richmond's Battery Park Christian Church, he was cheerfully contemplating the essence of human nature.

Chenard is staging Henley Street Theatre's "Lord of the Flies," running Thursday through Feb. 25 in an early salute to the 2012 statewide arts festival Minds Wide Open: Virginia Celebrates Children and the Arts. Featuring actors ranging in age from 12 to 22, the production gives a theatrical spin to William Golding's celebrated 1954 novel that imagined a clan of schoolboys devolving into savagery after they had been stranded on a deserted island. Playwright Nigel Williams authored the dramatization, which had its professional premiere in England in 1995.

"Lord of the Flies" is profound stuff, the 35-year-old Chenard said. Golding's novel "doesn't tell you how to perceive humanity: It asks you about it. And you're left, at the end, having to decide for yourself: Are people ultimately good or ultimately evil?"

Pondering this mega-question isn't an ordeal for Chenard, who's an assistant professor in the Virginia Commonwealth University theater department, and who recently staged "Suddenly, Last Summer" for Richmond Triangle Players. "Lord of the Flies" just happens to be his favorite novel. When he was a high school teacher in Maine before moving to Richmond, he taught the book to his students every year. Being able to direct the play version "is kind of a dream come true," he said.

But in some ways, that passion for the tale makes his directing assignment more difficult.

"I feel very strongly about wanting to preserve Golding's vision of this piece while obviously making it exciting and vibrant and entertaining for an audience," he said. "Being able to strike the balance between the literary depth and the theatrical necessity is a challenge."

His youthful cast will be instrumental in creating that balance. Involving young people was among the goals of the production, said Henley Street's artistic director, James Ricks, who chose "Lord of the Flies" because it dovetailed with the 2012 Minds Wide Open celebration. The celebration runs March to June. "Lord of the Flies" is also part of Richmond's annual Acts of Faith Theatre Festival.

Ricks said he was looking for "something that wasn't too cutesy — for lack of a better word — that featured young performers but dealt with serious themes in a relatively classical way."

Eric Evans, 17, who has appeared in shows mounted by Barksdale Theatre and Firehouse Theatre Project, said his acting career has "always been on a take-whatever-you-can-get sort of basis. But this was like hitting the jackpot," said Evans, who plays the character Ralph.

"I've never done a show that's so meaningful," said Drew Sease, 22, who portrays Jack. The play "deals with a lot of very real and, at times, scary issues."

In addition to signing up young actors, Henley Street has recruited area high school students to work as interns on the backstage aspects of the production. The company credits the Memorial Foundation for Children and The Rotary Club of Richmond with providing financial support for the internships.

As a rehearsal kicked off in the church basement, Andrea Alvarenga and Tedeshi Woolford, 17-year-olds who are video interns, were pondering what music might best accompany the show's promotional trailer.

Costume intern Kristen Griffiths, 17, who wants to work in theater professionally, was thinking about the clothing needs of the play's characters.

"I want people to see what I can do, sewing-wise," she said.

None of the interns and actors seemed put off by the show's serious subject matter.

And Chenard said that, although Golding's tale has a sobering dimension, it's ultimately not pessimistic. The characters who survive on the island will eventually move beyond their ordeal.

"I think ultimately it is a story of hope," Chenard said. "That is part of my directing vision."