Treasure Island

Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island is the basis of Ben Crocker’s panto script where we travel with Jim Hawkins seeking adventure and searching for treasure. So Over Players had inns, ships, storms, a desert Island, grottos and hidden treasure to contend with.  The staging requirements for the production were well met by Designer Andy Burrell beautifully constructed with the help of Ian Whitfield and enhanced with some excellent artwork by Helen Foster.  I have never seen such a large ship as Over’s Hispaniola. It was absolutely splendid and it moved!  It must have been a nightmare finding room for it off stage. Props were excellent (Vicky Richards, Ali Ashby & team) as were the Costumes (Olive Swain, Ann Swan & Christine Turner).  Lighting (Andy Burrell) was very good with some nice effects. Sound (design Mike Bernard operated by Rachel Dunbar) was well cued and body mic control was good. MD Mike Bernard and the band (Lin Hetherington, Justin Pisani and Phil Butcher) were very good indeed but did overpower the singing at times despite there being a large cast. I am afraid I could not hear the lyrics to A Pirate’s Life for Me! even though there was about eight or nine pirates. With a cast of over thirty choreography (Jack Stinton) was well judged and nicely executed.

Everyone worked hard but there were a few problems with dialogue blips and slow cue-bite which slowed the pace considerably. Panto needs pace and attack and at times the performance (on Wednesday) lacked it.  Over the forty or more years I have been reviewing amateur shows, including hundreds of pantomimes, I have rarely seen a slosh scene work well. It needs pace and split second timing which requires it to be meticulously rehearsed. Personally, my advice to amateur societies is to steer clear of a slosh scene at all costs.

This show has two main Principals.  Matt Sweeney was on great form as Mrs Hawkins and Roger Hetherington loud and proud as Long John Silver.  Good support came from Yasmin Asassa as Jim Hawkins, Harry Ashby as Squire Trelawney and Hannah Whiffin as Jenny his daughter.  It was great to see such enthusiastic pirates in Dylan Wadsworth and Jess Turpin as Seadog Sam and Seaweed Willy, Sara Jane Sutty (Blood Boiler), Joe Corrigan (Gizzard Slitter) and Chris Greenaway as The Fridge.  In more minor roles, well done to all the members of the Smugglers Cove W.I. led by Maria Baker (in extremely good voice) as Mrs Henderson and Helen Foster as Doris Normington (and also briefly as Billy Bones). The W.I. ladies all made enthusiastic, if press-ganged, pirates. Silver’s parrot Polly (Sue White) proved a favourite of the children. I am not going to start the long list of the numerous supporting players but needless to say everyone played their part contributing well to the production. 

At nearly three hours, including interval, this was a long show but it ended with an extremely lively and very funny Twelve Days of Christmas from Mrs Hawkins, Seadog Sam and Seaweed Willy.  I am sure Director Jack Stinton is well-pleased with his cast and production team who all contributed to a good evening’s entertainment.  Thank you for inviting me along and I look forward, with you, to 2024 as The Over Players’ celebrate their fortieth anniversary.

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