Belfast, Ireland Theatre: Caravan and Lord of the Flies Performances Reviewed

Two of the Belfast festivals events I attended were 'Caravan' (a risqué puppet show from an Australian theatre group) and 'Lord of the Flies' (a drama production of the classic book by William Golding). I'm into trying new and "different" things so I was drawn to these two productions. Neither made me uncomfortable but they both forced me to think. Both were equally provocative and R-rated in nature. But 'Lord of the Flies' was probably more received with the Belfast community because it is a classic and many generations have read the book in school.

'Caravan' is a relatively new play, only a few years old and just beginning to present itself to the world outside of Australia. I think the way it was advertised in posters and the booklet for the festival made it appear as soft-porn. The central image in the advertising was a couple having sex in a trailer. This didn't switch me off to what else the drama had to offer. The audience seemed mainly to consist of male/female couples between the ages of 20-50. There were no children, teenagers or elderly. I think this says that the age groups open to "different" drama are those that are mostly younger-and those settled in a relationship. I didn't see any other race than white. This is representative to the Belfast population because although there is a small black population and growing Asian community, the audience only consisted of about 40 so it was representative of the white majority. The audience also seemed to be mostly middle-class from their dress and this could mean that low-class Belfastians don't find drama worthy of their money and would rather go to the cinema.

'Lord of the Flies' had a much wider range of audience ages. I saw young children, teenagers, students, middle-aged, and elderly in spite of the violence and gore of the drama. I didn't see any other race than white and this isn't representative of Belfast. In an audience of at least 300, there should have been at least one black and a few Asians. The class ranged from upper (in the balcony boxes in their fancy attire and wine) to the lower class (who refused to buy the expensive snacks sold in the lobby). I think this is because the drama is based on the famous book. Families can feel safe taking their children because if it was such a classic, it must be alright. This takes no account of the brutal murders committed by the schoolboys gone crazy after less than 24 hours without supervision. I don't know if this play would convince the younger members of the audience that it is normal to go crazy in some situations. Or that they must be on guard of their innocent games getting out of hand. Regardless, I found this play disturbing as an adult-even more so than 'Caravan' and I do not know how it can be more widely accepted in Belfast than the puppet show.

The concept of different forms of culture and it may explain why 'Lord of the Flies' was more accepted. It could be regarded by the community as 'high' culture-and favored over the 'low' culture ('Caravan'). Perhaps the lower-class citizens went to see the drama in hopes of 'rubbing elbows' with the elite even if they didn't like the original novel. But regardless, culture is never "just entertainment."