Treasure Island

One of the best parts of this role in NODA is getting to meet new groups, full of passion and enthusiasm for the arts, therefore it was a great pleasure to be able to stand in for Helen Abraham to go and meet Bishop Auckland Amateur Theatre Society and to see their production of Treasure Island.

As we took our seats, we had a great aerial view down onto the well-lit, compact stage and the sounds of the ocean put us right in the mood. To avoid a long and drawn out intro, Director Josh had created a wonderful prologue in the style of a silent movie which was well played out by the cast and Amanda Stewart as Billy Bones.

Despite an unfortunate sound malfunction which caused a minor delay the show had a great lively start and we got to meet Sally Hawkins, our “Dame” played by the deliciously rude and crude Robert Proud. Throughout the production Robert worked the audience expertly with very over the top innuendos, very revealing costumes and some great musical numbers, poor Michael in the audience must still be shaking after his lap dance to I was Made For Loving You..

The opening number also introduced us to the sensational Junior Ensemble, every single one of them gave everything to the production from sassy one-liners and attitude as Ben Gunn’s crew to slick dance routines with athleticism to match the GB Gymnastic squad, I actually felt sore watching the summersaults and back-flips..

Treasure Island is not your traditional “Pantomime” but Director and writer Josh did a great job in converting this ancient story into a modern and successful pantomime. It had all the elements required and the society was very brave to use a well-know collection of Rock Songs as the show piece numbers – these worked brilliantly with some great vocals from the group.

The principal roles were all really well cast in this show. Charley Stamp gave us a wonderful mixture of Principal Boy and Buttons in her portrayal as the hapless Jim Hawkins and his chemistry with Jade Carney as Jenny Trelawney worked wonderfully. The 2 of them bounced off each other with ease and I have to compliment the pair of them on some outstanding vocals especially in their duet Dead Ringer For Love. I must also mention Jade’s accent which as a Pirate was brilliant, It was deliberately so bad it was fantastic.

Emma Westwood took on the villain within the show as Captain Bossa and she gave us a strong and confident performance interacting with the boos and hisses in an expert manner. The kids certainly enjoyed throwing out insults which were smacked straight back at them with ease.

Every Captain needs a good, or in this case completely incompetent crew, and BATS had Danielle Beck, Kayleigh Adams, Iyla Westwood and Megan Foster playing Mates 1-4 as Bossa’s sidekicks. Each of them played their characters with great energy and I loved it when they combined with Polly Jenny and Bossa for “If I had Not Been Stranded Here”. A brilliant classic Panto slapstick number which brought the house down and with only a few mishaps (slaps or whacks in the face!!)

Other Principal roles were played by Amanda Stewart as the wonderful drunk Billy Bones (fabulous death scene), Malcolm Stamp as Benn Gunn who led the Peaky Islanders through to a fabulous fight scene, and Sharon Cook as Squire Trelawney who played Jenny’s arrogant and pompous father with ease. I loved the characterization from Sharon in this role jumping from a bossy so and so to the flirty behavior with Sally Hawkins.

Despite the brilliant performances from everyone the scene stealer had to be Brenna Finn as the Lifesize Polly. Treading onto the stage for the 1st time, Brenna gave us a sensational characterization as a frustrated RADA trained Parrot, sick of the antics and tasks being asked of her which were all clearly undermining her ability as a successful trained “bird” actress. Her shrugs and timing were a joy to watch. Well done and I hope this isn’t your 1st and last time on stage.

What a success this show was, making the most of a small stage with clever scenery and slick scene changes to vibrant and on-trend costumes. The show had a real edge about it and thoroughly deserved the standing ovation and rapturous applause it received.

Thank you to everyone involved for the walm welcome and wonderful evening’s entertainment and I look forward to coming and visiting you again in the future.

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