Treasure Island

The first thing that struck me as I entered the village hall was the effort that had been put into decorating the place - the walls were awash with pirates, treasure chests, pirate flags and some inflatable parrots and monkeys. A great way to set the scene!

The auditorium was buzzing with anticipation and the opening scene, in front of tabs, built it well with the wicked 'Triton' lit up by ultraviolet light and with a powerful voice. Serving as narrators, Triton was joined by the fabulously-costumed Ariel and Marina, who seemed rather shadowed by his booming performance.

The company's opening number wasn't particularly strong, but the entrance of our Dame (Polly Perkins) got the audience going again, with her quick wit and good interaction with the audience. Though Polly was a little underplayed, she worked well with son Jim, who's good sense of timing made for a slick double act.

The golden cutlass goes to the other double act of the show, Long John Saliva and his parrot! Long John was wonderfully sly and charismatic giving the strongest performance of the show, while his faithful parrot, Woody, was hilarious with perfectly timed interjections from her very short list of lines... 'Pieces of Eight!'.

The well-crafted script made for some other enjoyable performances like the crazy-dancing of Billy Bones and the creepy Visually Impaired Pugh. The other cast members weren't quite as strong, but worked well enough - there were some clarity issues at times, particularly from the younger cast members who had a tendency to rush their dialogue, which was a shame as we could see the potential in some of the youngest performers who just need some coaching in stage technique.

Several clever set pieces worked well. Adrift at sea, the cast drifted past (with the assistance of the audience's 'wind') on various boats and barrels, while Long John and Polly had a lovely scene on the poop deck dodging inflatable seagull poop! Any character plotting evil doings was also bathed in a strong green light, which was effective, with some good breaking of the ‘fourth wall’ with entrances from the back of the hall, Long John stepping into the audience and the clever shock treatment delivered by a stream of water shot into the audience on several occasions!! You missed me!

I was pleased with the little bit of harmony that sneaked in at the opening of act two and the company handled the simple choreography well. Of course, I always want more, for example an opportunity was missed during the 'Big Spender' number which was crying out for Polly to drag up some poor unsuspecting man up onto the stage to sing to. Also, I can’t let the hard work of the prompt go unnoticed and hope that in future productions she has less to do!

There was lots to love about the show and the audience responded well to the various local references (most of which I understood).

My first introduction to the Porlock Pantomime Society was great fun! Congratulations to you all.

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