Treasure Island

Treasure Island by Ben Crocker is a pantomime that is both clever and funny and tells the story of how Jim falls in love with Jenny the Squire’s daughter and the hunt for hidden treasure.    From the rousing intro song “What shall we do with the drunken sailor?” to the inevitable happy ending as good overcomes evil and the happy couple find true love and live happily ever after, the evening was full of light hearted and inventive fun.

The sets were excellent, very realistically recreated ranging from the dockside, the Admiral Benbow and the Hispaniola.  Some flats wheeled in depicting other locations such as the island.   The props were all appropriate and well used by the cast.

The costumes were fantastic and of high quality.  There was great attention to detail.  The Dame had suitably outlandish outfits and wore them with a flourish. Overall the costumes were bold but well balanced.   The exquisitely colourful outfit for Polly The Parrot deserves special praise.

The lighting was effective throughout and well controlled.  The sound was good.   The effect of the Hispaniola in the storm, as it rocked, was particularly impressive.

This panto had all the requirements for a great panto: an amusing double act in the form of Seadog Sam (Phoebe Frolich) and Seaweed Willy (Reuben Shepherd), The Squire, the couple in love and the Dame of course!  There was also the obligatory sing-a-long (Baby Shark).   John Hamshare took control of the stage as Long John Silver when he appeared with his henchmen with the gloriously appropriate names of Blood Boiler, The Fridge and Gizzard Slitter.  With plenty of tried and tested panto formula there was also a new twist, using a group of WI Women who were unwittingly pressed ganged into being pirates.  They were led by Mrs Henderson (Ros Shepherd) who had great energy and aplomb.  Lily Ebsworth was charming and adorable as Polly The Parrot in a very colourful feathered costume and all the children performed very well to the delight of the audience.

The evening was a flurry of colourful costumes, great songs and set pieces and Hook Players delivered a very happy show.   It was evident that the cast derived huge enjoyment from their performances and this too had the audience smiling.

 

 

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