Treasure Island – Sir John Mills Theatre, Ipswich

Writer : Robert Louis Stevenson

Adaptor: Jake Smith,

Director :  Kirsty Tallent

Cast adrift from its Devon origins, Stevenson’s classic adventure fetches up at the lost town of Dunwich, one of many Suffolk references in Jake Smith’s fast-paced adaptation.

This tale of “buccaneers and buried gold” may be less familiar to families these days, but it’s still popular enough to see the Hispaniola dock twice in the county town this year. The cruder comedy version at the Wolsey was a hit this summer. And expectations were high at Eastern Angles after last year’s brilliant Christmas Carol. Many of the same creatives were on board, ensuring a high-energy, constantly engaging theatrical experience.

Lu Hubert’s design – the two banks of seats divided by a faded sea-chart floor – is generously dressed with coiled rope, furled sails, lobster pots and fishing nets.

The audience feels up-close and personal with the host of colourful characters; there’s plenty of eye-contact and ad-libbed banter. Somebody had clearly been counting the house and checking the guest list.

But despite the occasional panto moment, the show stays pretty true to the original, with authentic narration, as in the novel, by the teenage Jim Hawkins, whose coming-of-age story is at the heart of the whole mutinous swash-buckling yarn.

Hawkins is played here by Chileya Mwampulo with endless energy – she’s excellent in the physical theatre and crystal clear in the delivery of a challenging role.

The other characters (and there are many) are shared between three adults, and three confident and charismatic recruits from Eastern Angles’ Youth Theatre and Young Company. Stevenson would have been impressed, I’m sure, that in the performance this reviewer saw, his “story for boys” features just one token male, Charlie Venables, who brought us brilliantly bold portraits of surly old seaman Bones, strict, savvy Captain Smollett, and a memorably mad Ben Gunn.

Stevenson’s villainous sea-cook Silver, awarded a well-deserved Michelin star here, a smudge on the manuscript perhaps down-grading his leg from wooden to wounded, is given a compelling, nuanced performance by Emma Zadow, who’s also Jim’s Grandma. And Georgina Liley makes a fine Squire, an all-too brief Pew, and Flint – the original owner of the treasure which causes all the trouble. She also plays accordion and an atmospheric fiddle.  Captain Flint also lends his name to the iconic [scarlet] parrot, a superbly realised puppet, by no means confined to Silver’s shoulder.

The younger actors –  I saw the Flying Dutchman crew – are willingly pressed into deck-swabbing duties, and slip easily into the style of the show. They also have some of the best jokes.   How do you revive a dying pirate ? CP Aaargh !

Most of the key moments of the story were there, though not perhaps “exactly in the ancient way” – the eavesdropping among the apples, the black spot – but the legend of Dunwich boosts the dramatic impetus of the story. And affords a glimpse into Ben Gunn’s unexpected undersea home. The stunning stage-craft of the lost town rising through the waves “Rise, Dunwich, Rise!” – economically suggested by the lobster-pot lanterns – was one of many ingenious touches – the deck of the Hispaniola, created by just two ropes, another.

A little welcome recycling – last year’s snowballs just as accurately hurled as cannon balls. And one of David Barton’s best numbers – Old Joe and Mrs Dilber’s “What’s This?”, reprised over the crucial chart.

The stand-out hit of the Treasure Island shanty-infused score could well be Ben Gunn’s casein-fuelled dream Ham and Cheese, or maybe the Grog Song: “Fire in the belly, spark in the eye”. Grog served in the bar – with a generous slug of rum – may well have enlivened the audience for the second half …

Jake Smith’s sharp script and Kirsty Tallent’s sure-footed direction combine to deliver a fresh take on a classic tale, with plenty to entertain every generation, and a take-away moral for the festive season: “Home is the greatest treasure of all.”

Runs until 3rd January 2026, then at Woodbridge from the 7th to the 10th January 2026.