Treasure Island

What a pleasure to visit for the first time a society that my own parents had appeared with some sixty years ago at the Holyport Memorial Hall. There was a warm welcome to the newly refurbished venue and a lively audience made up of scout/cub troops who provided plenty of the required audiences responses. It was apparent that the venue stage facilities were limited with such a low stage height and a slow curtain closing mechanism which restricted the scope of the show, but the society made the most of the opportunity to get back on stage again to entertain us. 

It is refreshing to see a new title in Treasure Island as a pantomime which in the first half followed the Robert Louis Stevenson’s book to a reasonable degree before departing on a flight of fancy in the second Act mixing the story with Robinson Crusoe. There are plenty of roles for the members to have fun with although there was limited traditional panto business and few scripted jokes, there was nevertheless plenty of laughs and a few topical updates. 

The costumes for the Dame Ma Hawkins, the villain Long John Silver, Principal Girl Verity Trelawney, and the “Brokers men” Knuckle and Brass were all very good, but it was the skin costume for Polly the Parrot that was outstanding and generated laughs on every appearance as he sat on his perch. There were also some very attractive painted sets for Admiral Benbow Inn and the Haunted cave which set the scenes well . 

It was a lovely evening seeing a fresh Pantomime title with some very good performances and good audience interaction especially in the songs when the Scouts/cubs were singing along! I look forward to seeing this Group stage a drama next.

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