Treasure Island

Phil Willmott’s adaption of Robert Louis Stevenson Treasure Island sticks to the spirit of the original but simplifies and foreshortens the story to an hour with half set in the Admiral Benbow pub and the half on board the Hispaniola. He rebalances the gender mix in the cast and gives every one of them a few lines to deliver which makes it a great play for young performers taking their first steps on stage. The key moments are retained with Blind Pew and the black spot, the recruitment of Long John Silver as ship’s cook, Jim Hawkins hiding behind the ship barrel, and meeting the mad Ben Gunn from Treasure island.

Shinfield Players theatre, an old NAAFI building near Reading suffered from storm damage in February 2022 and it was wonderful to be back in the venue for this show with its new roof, spacious new toilets and looking like it has benefited from a complete redecoration. Best of all in this extreme temperature the air cooling in the auditorium and bar worked very well! As always there is a warm welcome to the cool venue. 

Overall, the young cast of junior and middle youth groups (aged 8 to 14) did well to tell the story with several very strong performances and each member of the cast establishing a clear distinct character through their costumes and spoken lines, These first steps in performance in front of a live audience are so important and hopefully gave the cast a lot of enjoyment and experience that they will build on in future shows as they discover the thrill of performance. Treasure Island in a strong title with a good range of roles and a perfect first production for youth groups and as always Shinfield Players Youth Groups provided an entertaining and enjoyable story with several young performers showing real potential and everyone gaining from the experience.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.