This Friday (19th September), Bertie Hawes will be seen playing Eric in Lord of the Flies at Chichester Festival Theatre, where he will be working alongside a cast including Ethan Rouse as his twin brother Sam, with the stage adaptation of William Golding’s 1954 novel directed by Anthony Lau and running until Saturday 11th October. Bertie previously performed at Chichester Festival Theatre when he made his professional stage debut as John Taplow in the Terrence Rattigan play Summer 1954 (The Browning Version), which toured the UK in 2024/25, with dates at Chichester earlier this year. Also having screen experience, Bertie played Teddy Carter in Series 6 of Malory Towers, which airs on CBBC and BBC iPlayer, and filmed alongside Danya Griver as Gwendoline Mary Lacey, and also this year, he played Eric Wilson in Call the Midwife. For his training, Bertie attended The BRIT School on their musical theatre course and graduated in 2024. We spoke to Bertie about playing Eric in the upcoming Chichester Festival Theatre production of Lord of the Flies, having his professional stage debut playing John Taplow in Summer 1954 (The Browning Version) and his screen roles in Malory Towers and Call the Midwife as Teddy Carter and Eric Wilson respectively.

You will be playing Eric in Chichester Festival Theatre’s production of Lord of the Flies, how has it been rehearsing for the show and what are you looking forward to for opening on Friday 19th September?

This show is unlike anything I’ve ever worked on before and I feel so lucky to be a part of it. Lord of the Flies is such a wild and exciting story and seeing that energy reflected in the rehearsal room has just been awesome. What has made it even more special is that everyone on board this production, from the stage management to the cast and creatives, are such beautiful, imaginative souls and to share this work with them all is, and has been, so much fun.

What I’ll really be looking forward to about opening is to see the reactions from our audiences to some of our production’s incredible surprises. I do not wish to reveal too much but what I can say is that everyone who comes to watch is in for a spectacular treat, and at the risk of sounding arrogant, I believe that we have quite the show on our hands.

For those unfamiliar with Lord of the Flies, can you say about the show and your character Eric?

Lord of the Flies is a terrific play based on the novel by William Golding of the same name. The story explores a concept of school boys being stranded on a desert island with no adult supervision. The boys must build their own society but division, rivalry and fear drive the boys down a dark path with blood and flies surrounding them.

Eric is one of the many choir boys who are stranded on this island. He shares a special bond with his twin brother Sam and the two of them, quite comically, like to finish each other’s sentences (which makes my job quite difficult). The two of them together are a unit and whichever gang has ownership of them, has (I believe) a certain strength similar to that of having a rook or a knight in chess.

With the show being a stage adaptation of William Golding’s 1954 novel; how does it feel to be bringing the story to the stage?

It is certainly an honour to bring such a magnificent and well-known piece of text to life and, thanks to Golding’s immense description of the island and the characters, it feels so much easier to place ourselves in this world. However, our production is a lot less literal and somewhat more interpretative with our world building, but the story holds strong and works wonderfully in the space. Fans of the original text will certainly be delighted to see the characters that they love shining on stage.

What is Eric like to play and how have you prepared for taking on the role?

Eric and his brother are commonly referred to as Sam’N’Eric – one word. They are often depicted with a lack of individuality and it is so easy to fall into the trap of viewing them as one character. Anthony Lau (our brilliant director) didn’t want us to fall into this trap. Instead, he was much more intrigued to find the moments where Sam and Eric stray from one another.

As brothers in a terrifying situation, they are undoubtedly drawn to each other as the only real comfort on the entire island but that doesn’t mean that their experience is exactly the same. Finding these moments of separation between them just allows for a much more interesting dynamic that’s fun to watch and inspires the audience to connect with the two of them.

To conquer this challenging part, I’ve done a lot of work with the wonderfully talented Ethan Rouse, who plays Sam. Together we’ve worked on finding our intentions in each and every scene; when they’re similar and when they differ. If you were to join us in a rehearsal, you would constantly see the two of us pulling each other aside and quietly discussing what each of us is feeling and what our objectives are. Ethan is such an intelligent and insightful actor and it’s such a delight to be working with him to create the best version of these characters that we can.

Do you have a favourite scene in the production, and is there anything you find most challenging about the character?

I absolutely have a favourite scene! In this play, there’s plenty of rather thrilling stage combat. And I’m very lucky to have scenes where I partake in the action. In my favourite scene I am captured and tied up but I don’t go down without a fight. I let the character of Bill have it a bit before I ultimately lose and end up helpless (it was fun while it lasted).

As for something that I find particularly challenging about the character of Eric, I would have to say that it would be finding the underlying dark side that he and all the other characters have to them. There are some actions taken by this character in a group setting that are completely unforgivable and finding what drives this young cowardly boy to commit such atrocities has been a struggle. But the beauty of a process is that you get to discover these questions that emerge out of nowhere and answer them in a room full of creative minds. It’s such a wonderful thing, I absolutely love that this is my job.

How has it been meeting the rest of the cast and what is it like being directed by Anthony Lau?

Anthony is a truly brilliant director who works very closely with his actors and encourages them to play and make offers in the space and inspires you to be unapologetic in your ideas. How he manages to fit so much knowledge and creativity in his brain, I will never know. He has a calm and kind demeanour but knows exactly when to be stern when the focus fades. The brilliance of that man is inspiring and I’m extremely happy to be working with him.

As for what’s it’s been like to meet the rest of the cast on this production, what an unbelievable amount of talent!! These boys are just incredible, so kind and warm and all of them working extremely hard to achieve a great piece of work.

A funny coincidence is that three of them, like me, trained at The BRIT school; however, I was the only one to study musical theatre. At BRIT, they have a slogan that seems to ring true in this situation, and that is: #alwaysbrit.

Why would you recommend booking tickets to see Lord of the Flies, which is booking until Saturday 11th October, and who do you think the show will appeal to?

This production is a real opportunity to see the text as it’s never been done before. Lord of the Flies as a whole is a fabulously exciting show and to have such creative minds as our cast and creatives enhance its brilliant adaptation by Nigel Williams is just so special and something that should not be missed.

Our show caters for those who are fans of vast theatrics and impactful storytelling but also for those who simply wish to see a classic story brought to life. It is my strong belief that audiences will leave the theatre absolutely buzzing, it truly is a fantastic show!!

How did you find the experience making your professional stage debut in Summer 1954 (The Browning Version) and touring for the first time?

Summer 1954 was an absolutely fantastic experience, for which I will remain grateful for the rest of my professional career and for the rest of my life. To have the opportunity to work with such established actors and get to learn from them, not only how to better my acting but also how to live as an actor. They taught me, cared for me and looked after me through an unforgettable process and I’m unbelievably grateful to have felt that level of affection.

Not only was it such a loving environment but it was such a marvellous show; James Dacre (director) has a terrific mind that was perfect for Rattigan, and everyone involved – cast and crew – made it a production that I’m extremely proud to have been a part of.

To take that show around the country was so exciting for me, despite often finding myself sleeping on the floor of a friend of a friend’s uni accommodation. I found it fascinating to walk into years-old theatres and bow for new audiences each and every week. The feeling was truly intoxicating and I’ve really missed it. What I found particularly funny on the tour was how each location had a certain flair of upper echelon, we liked to call it the Waitrose tour (no explanation necessary).

I truly loved that whole experience, it was very special to me.

What was it like taking on the role of John Taplow and how was it working on a Terence Rattigan play?

To have Rattigan be the work that started my professional career on stage was an absolute blessing but a tough challenge. He writes everything, right down to the punctuation, in such a deliberate manner that I had to be very specific in my delivery. I worked very closely with our amazing assistant director Sarah Stacey in order to speak exactly what was written on the page. On her command, I would walk while reciting, changing direction on every full stop to embody a new thought. On a comma I would speed up and a dash I would slide. I thought learning lines was hard but to learn punctuation is on another level entirely. All the same, it was a lot of fun and seemed to pay off quite well.

I loved playing Taplow, his journey towards the admiration of his schoolmaster and the passion that is instilled into him in such a short span of time was a delight to play. I also had lots of fun with reciting ancient Greek which there unfortunately isn’t a lot of in Lord of the Flies.

The tour venues included Chichester Festival Theatre, what is the theatre like to perform in and how is it returning for one of their own shows with Lord of the Flies?

Chichester is one of my favourite theatres that I have ever had the pleasure of performing in. The way that it’s built in its thrust form, allows you to feel held in the space. It truly is a giant hug of a theatre. It was the only location on the tour that I didn’t feel at all nervous in and I feel so blessed to be returning for my next production.

On screen, you played guest character Teddy Carter in Series 6 of Malory Towers, how would you describe the character and how was it joining the cast?

Ah yes, the first of three 1950s schoolboys that I would go on to play!

I had the most fun on Malory Towers and proceeded to make some of the best friends that I could ever have asked for, who have supported me through all my major accomplishments since I had the pleasure of meeting them. It was my very first professional job out of The BRIT School, and Teddy was such a fun role to leap into. He’s so ungodly full of himself with a very high energy that doesn’t seem to let up. However, this doesn’t stop Gwendoline Mary Lacey from thinking he’s ‘quite a gent’.

I was only on the show for a short time but that didn’t stop me from having the time of my life.

What was it like on set of Malory Towers and filming your scenes?

On set was a blast!! As was every aspect of being on this show. Filming on location made the experience particularly special as we got to travel to some of the most beautiful spots across Devon and Cornwall; many of which I recognised as, to prepare for the role, I watched every previous episode of the series to the utter dismay of some of my castmates.

Filming my scenes was delightful, however, I quickly ran into the terrible challenge of ‘what to do with my hands’ – I have particularly long limbs and holding them by my side is a struggle. After a very brief but painstakingly difficult process, I settled upon resting them on the lapel of my blazer. Not the best choice but it felt right at the time. Fortunately I have since learned how to keep my arms firm on each side without fidgeting.

My experience on Malory Towers was my very first professional acting job out of The BRIT School and I’m so thankful that I had so much fun and met the most incredible people.

Also this year, you were seen in an episode of Call the Midwife as Eric Wilson, how was it being involved with the series and can you tell us about your episode?

This job came completely out of the blue for me; a single self-tape and I was in. The experience was completely and utterly awesome. Heading into that famous set, I was told numerous tales of how the upper portion of the building was haunted. I was also promptly shown by the terrific Georgie Glen where I could find the ice cream (which was so very kind of her).

On the show, I played a young lad with an unfortunate venereal disease. In the episode I was blessed with a phrase that many of my friends and family have not yet let me live down: ‘sometimes lad… when you get lucky, you get unlucky’.

But all jokes aside, I am so glad that I got to be a part of a such a beloved and long-running programme. It was an absolute pleasure to work alongside a group of people whose characters are so embedded into the hearts so many.

Where does your love of acting come from and how did you get into it?

For as long I can remember, me and my two brothers have been in the world of theatre despite our parents not being creatives, oddly enough. We spent years solely doing musical theatre, which I adored and went on to train in. For a vast period of time, I was more of a dancer than anything else and it wasn’t until I had a lesson in ‘acting through song’ one day, that I was shown the absolute beauty of acting. In that lesson, I was told that ‘when portraying sadness it’s important to find the happy moments when delivering the words, as sadness is often born out of the memory of being happy’. This simple sentence sparked a strong love of acting, as playing with the complexity of emotion was a concept so beautiful to me and I was desperate to explore it. From that point onwards, I’ve been finding more and more things that I truly love about acting and I’ve come to realise that it’s a job that I wish to do for as long as I live.

How do you like to spend your free time?

I don’t get too much free time these days, but when I do, I’ll either spend it with my marvellous friends, or I read a new play. My goal recently has been to read a new play every week (a tough challenge but so helpful and fun!!).

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