Treasure Island

There is nothing quite like a youth show for demonstrating so clearly the passion and enthusiasm that we all feel when performing on stage – and this was certainly no exception – the enthusiasm was almost tangible and had been expertly channelled by the production team in this show. 

Although, of course familiar with the book, this adaptation by Stephen Kingsbury was quite new to me, written with youth productions in mind it tells the story on Jim Hawkins, who regaled with stories of pirates by Billy Bones and finding his treasure map, longs for a life of thrills and excitement, and so we join him and the motley crew of the Hispaniola on the life of thrilling adventure he has always dreamed of.

The open stage set the scene well and looked generally good. I was less certain of the (what looked like scaffold pipes) at the back but loved the authentic looking barrels and chests. (Just remember to camouflage the bottom of the green bin as well as the sides since that is mainly the part the audience sees).   The ‘bars’ looked good – particularly the exotic looking cocktails in Act 2.  The ropes and general shipping paraphernalia looked good but for the fact that the skull and crossbones was flying from the beginning and so, for me, somewhat spoiled the mutiny in the second act.

Costumes too were very good bright and colourful, and the young ladies in the cast appeared to relish the opportunity of playing swarthy, rough pirates – and played them very well.     

It was especially rewarding to note that the production team this year was taken from the young people who last year were performing, so my warm congratulation must go to Sam Hill – making his directorial debut and to Nathaniel Elechi joint choreographer with Kathrine Howard.  Never easy to go from being ‘one of the gang’ in the cast to ‘the person in charge’.  I hope you found the change as enjoyable as we found the results. 

Direction was generally good, with characters being established well.  Obviously presenting such a predominantly male driven story with a predominantly female cast provided casting challenges which in the main were managed extremely well.  I would just mention though that as you perform to backing tracks (which are notoriously unforgiving) try and find your characters some theatrical or character-building ‘business’ to do during the introduction rather than obviously waiting for the introduction to end so that they can begin ‘the song’.

The dancing – I would say that Nathaniel and  Katherine are certainly names to look out for in the future, with some great dance routines very loosely based on traditional Hornpipe steps and actions was exceptionally good. 

The whole cast had obviously been VERY well drilled by the whole production team and would have put many adult productions to shame, no-one was looking found to see what their neighbour was doing they were all absolutely secure in what was required of them and when.  Added to that was some great singing, dancing and just bursting with enthusiasm and enjoyment that it was impossible not to enjoy and appreciate the hard work that had so clearly been put into this show.   The diction was generally good and clear in both singing and speaking but my usual caveat - some members of the cast did have a tendency to rush speech so that the audience lose the words.

I would also like to mention the ‘front of house’ crew not just adults but also the youngsters selling merchandise for taking an important role – though not actually on stage, still doing such a great job in welcoming the audience – thank you.

All in all a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining evening. Many, many thanks to the cast and crew, and indeed, everyone connected with this production for an exciting and enjoyable evening and an excellent example of teamwork and enthusiasm and talent.  Thank you SO much for inviting me!

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