Writer: Robert Louis Stevenson, adapted by Nicky Diss
Director: Nicky Diss
Nicky Diss delivers a young-child-friendly take on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale Treasure Island, in which three energetic performers take on 12 characters with an impressive range of faux West Country, pirate, and posh accents. Elder teenagers might find themselves eye-rolling a little. But there is plenty here for the under-12s to enjoy in a production that adds gags, song and panto elements to the story and dials down the gore, while eschewing the temptation to dumb things down more than necessary.
Lilian Tsang plays narrator and protagonist Jim Hawkins, alongside Lydia Cashman and Thomas Judd, who take on pretty much all the other characters, aided by an array of period costumes (wardrobe designer Grace Kelly Miller) hung on hooks at the rear of the stage. The role of Captain Smollett goes to a young audience member who thankfully only needs to learn one line.
Young Hawkins and his mum (Cashman) discover a dead pirate’s secret map and join an expedition to a remote island to recover a buried fortune, led by the impossibly up-market, loose-lipped Squire Trelawney (Judd does the honours) and the strait-laced Dr Livesey (Cashman exchanges frock coats).
During the voyage, Jim uncovers a mutiny (or “mutinising” as the adaptation has it) led by the charismatic and morally ambiguous ship’s cook, Long John Silver (Judd again). This sparks a struggle between disciplined loyal crewmen and chaotic bloodthirsty buccaneers, one of whom has the name “smelly feet” assigned by a helpful audience member. With the aid of the marooned cheese-loving ex-pirate Ben Gunn (Cashman), Jim outwits the mutineers, secures the treasure, and escapes back to England.
Stage design mostly comprises suitcases and packing boxes, rearranged in various ways to create the Admiral Benbow Inn, the prow of the Hispaniola, and the Treasure Island stockade. The design feel is bare-bones (we literally get bare pirate bones at one point) but effective, facilitating direction from Diss that is about as pacey as you will find anywhere in the children’s theatre canon.
Anticipate plenty of call and response, yo-ho-hos, and communal singing in the “It’s a pirate’s life for me” vein. Some of the gags are a little tired: “What’s a pirate’s favourite letter?” “I don’t know, I’m not a pirate”, but there is enough variety here to keep the cringe response in check. Treasure Island makes for a pleasant hour of summer holiday distraction for parents and kids alike.
Runs until 16 August 2026
