A young woman addresses an audience at a youth leadership conference when there is a huge explosion, a blinding light, and then… darkness.

So begins a twenty-first century retelling of Lord of the Flies, where instead of an island, it’s a conference centre; in place of the conch, is a school blazer, but the power dynamics of high schoolers trying to work out how to survive is familiar.

There’s a lot of fear amongst them, which leads to extreme reactions of screaming, shouting and running – tensions are high, and it doesn’t take much to push anyone over the edge. There are power struggles between a rational, natural leader in Serafina, and the louder bully tactics of Mac – all the time, the smart Sally has her own agenda, which defaults to self-preservation over those she deems inferior to her own intelligence.

The flow is ruined by bad tech – particularly mistimed lighting and sound cues – which bring the audience out of the world the performers are working hard to create, and there are scene changes that further punctuate a pace that needs to keep going. The story itself is good as an examination of how people behave in a crisis, though its strength is not as a linear, developing narrative: there are critical plot points that seem to be discarded as soon as they no longer serve the story.

It’s wonderful to see new faces on a Fringe stage, but perhaps like the story on stage, having too many directors means pulling in different directions, and maybe a single focus would tighten the showcase of writing and performance.