In choosing Treasure Island as their family show this year the Rep is doing what they should be doing in providing alternative entertainment to the ‘panto- fare’ on offer at most other theatres.
It is also a welcome change from that well- worn classic ‘A Christmas Carol’.
What better fun for the adults and children alike than a bit of good old swashbuckling?
Byrony Lavery’s adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s original epic adventure remains for the most part faithful but too long at three hours for an audience with school in the morning. The recasting of Jim Hawkins as Jemima, which Sarah Middleton carries off with warmth and aplomb;works well and in fact becomes a ‘girls own’ adventure which is seamlessly inclusive. However changing Doctor Livesy to female (Sian Howard) was a step too far for me, it added nothing and jarred greatly. If the gender balance needed balancing a bit more then I would have preferred to see some female pirates in the crew.
Michael Hodgson as Long John Silver follows in some very hallowed footprints (Orson Welles and Robert Newton to name but two) yet managed to bring something new to the role; especially in the carefully chiseled back-story of the bonding – ‘bordering on grooming’ – between him and young Miss Hawkins.
The sets at the REP just seem to get better. Mark Bailey has framed his setting in the guise of a Victorian Theatre complete with a false crumbling plaster proscenium, gas fired footlights and lanterns hanging everywhere from the rear of the stage to the back of the auditorium. These heavenly nightlights guide us to the Caribbean by way of the The Admiral Benbow Inn on the Cornish Coast, the majestic but infamous ‘Hispaniola’ for the voyage and finally that sandy jewel in an azure sea, Treasure Island. Here an extremely wild Ben Gun (Thomas Pickles) awaits to strutt his stuff more like a rock god than a marooned mariner.
The show is directed by Phillip Breen who provides an abundance of action literally from the off with enough fighting and mutilation to satisfy todays young shoot-em-up cyber veterans appetite for gore whilst managing to develop each and every character as a solo and ensemble performance, They make a great company and the occasional side stepping into the odd pleasant if unmemorable song adds more the feel of a tavern sing song than a chorus line to the experience.
My ‘pirate of the night’ award must go to Dave Fishley as Grey. He provides us with a show stealing performance as the most memorable ‘forgotten man’ you will ever see.
There’s something very Christmassy about pirates, buried treasure and pieces of eight just like the chocolate ones you get in your stocking. It’s a jolly enjoyable romp and runs at the REP right through to January
The show runs until January 7. Visit www.birmingham-rep.co.uk for more information and tickets which start at £15.
Euan Rose
