AubrysInFrance: Sa Majesté des Mouches - An Interesting Production

As we have mentioned in the past, our landlords, Stéphane and Nathalie, have two lovely, talented, teenage daughters, Lucie and Fanny. Last year we were their guests at a production of “Kurt Weill: De Berlin A Broadway” (Kurt Weill: from Berlin to Broadway). The show was incredibly well-done and professional! We were amazed and impressed!

The community theater where the shows are presented

Just to give you a bit of background…. A small group of teachers gets together after school is out and comes up with a musical for teenagers to present at the end of the next school year. The teachers write the script, choose the music, plan the choreography, the scenery and staging and costuming – everything! Then junior high and high school students volunteer to spend hours and hours and hours preparing and rehearsing under the guidance and direction of those dedicated teachers. This is all outside of the regular school day, by the way. And, the resulting production is amazing!

Doing a show with Kurt Weill as the subject made a lot of sense to us. After all, he wrote and produced musicals and had a large body of work. Also, his personal history and what was going on during his life made a very compelling story.

With that in mind, you can understand our surprise to hear that this year’s production was to be “Sa Majesté des Mouches” (The Lord of the Flies.) A musical of The Lord of the Flies – how on earth can they do that? Well they did, and it all made sense. Ultimately, the message of the story is that the veneer of civilization is very thin and very fragile. And, that truth is universal – not limited to any specific country, region, or social group. William Golding would have been pleased with this production! Scenes from the show:

So, what did they use for songs and music? In keeping with the idea of the theme being universal, the teachers chose songs from all over the world and even different time periods. Everything from U2 to madrigals, from Greek, African, and Oriental music to religious chants. You name it! They also included some intricate choreography as the children in the play descend into tribalism.

It all fit, and the kids did an amazing job. All those endless late night and weekend rehearsals paid off, and the production was a great success. And, Lucie and Fanny were spectacular, of course! We hope to be able to see what they will do next year!