Treasure Island

“Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!” This fun, family oriented and occasionally raucous production had the audience amused from the start, and not only for the tongue-in-cheek joke cracking! With a confident cast, along with an effective new sound arrangement, accompanied and acapella chorus numbers were impressive and polished, encouraging a toe-tapping audience to join in with the nautical rhythms. When word confident, cast sung with energy, projecting their tuneful voices well.

Costumes had evidently been diligently designed to match characters and era, as they helped set the scenes inside an atmospheric tavern, on board a rocking boat and on the supposed soft, sandy beaches of Treasure Island itself. Particular credit must go to Black Dog’s costume which, along with a mass of natural looking facial adornment, gave more than a passing resemblance to ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ character ‘Jack Sparrow’ which is never a bad thing!

Pace was generally good despite a disruption of flow by numerous prompts.  However, all was received well by a good-natured, spirited audience. Geoff Taylor stole the show from start to finish, providing a hilarious representation of Black Dog and Long John Silver. Both characters presented with energy and enthusiasm. Additionally, a huge well done must be given to Lynn Pulman who stepped in to her role at short notice and yet not only spoke her given lines, but acted them most convincingly.

Unnecessary blacked-out scene changes, which at one point, left the audience talking amongst themselves for a couple of minutes, needed to be speedier, however, when paced and fluid, the set worked exceedingly well, constructed with the use of small trucks and minimal props which gave good effect while allowing maximum stage space, vital in such a small venue.

This production with enthusiastic new and seasoned members alike provided a night of humour and music which thoroughly entertained the receptive audience. A good job done by all!

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