Midland Players’ Treasure Island – 25 September 2024, University Drama Studio
Review by Claire Taranaski.
Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel is a pirate adventure book that we all feel we should have read when we were younger but many like me did not or will have heard of the pirate Long John Silver but not know where from. Set in 1748, the year of our grace, the story and the play tell the story of Jim Hawkins, who comes into possession of a map seemingly showing the location of the long lost treasure left behind by the dreaded pirate Captain Flint and the adventures that it leads to.
Megan Roberts adaptation of the story for the stage cleverly tells the story through a court case between the older Hawkins (Ruth Jepson) and Captain Walters (Steven Garner) and would have worked equally as superbly as a two hander between them, both proving themselves as strong, just and likeable actors with superb stage presence and with Ruth especially making a natural narrator of the story and bringing all aspects of her character to life.
However alongside the court case and Ruth’s narration, the 20 plus cast brought the story of Treasure Island beautifully to life around them, both feeling like keeping to the classic tale whilst including moments of great humour and not verging of the edge of been pantomime, which so easily could have happened.
Although all great performances, the stand out performances for me came from Hal Grayson as the young Jim Hawkins, who performed with a natural energy, enthusiasm and naivety and seemed to mature as their character did throughout the story; Samantha Oldham as Dr Livesey who portrayed the character with great wisdom, endearment for young Jim and professionalism; Josh Cooper as Captain Smollett who originally reminded me of Michael Caine’s performance as Scrooge at the beginning of Muppet’s Christmas Carol but as the play went on I realised performed with the professionalism and respect of an 18th century captain who cared about his crew; Elliott Dale-Hughes as Long John Silver who fulfilled my expectations for everything a pirate should be without being to stereotypical; and my favourite performance of the night after Ruth’s, Michael Gerald as Squire Trelawney who had natural comedic timing and personality and was a delight to observe. I must also give a special mention to Deborah Hewitt as Joyce, who left me with the immense desire to always carry pocket cheese with me.
Megan Roberts who not only wrote but directed the production, got the best out of the cast, with outside of the interaction between Ruth and Steven, being the storm scene in the first act, the (without giving the plot away) almost psychological horror scene in the second act between Samantha and the actor portraying Hands (both scenes fantastically supported by the lighting of Phil George and sound of Tony Kennick bringing the atmosphere to life) and the sword fighting in the run up the finale (some classic stage fighting training must have been going on behind the scenes).
I must also mention the set design of Phil George and Chris Binns, with the deck of the ship especially being brought to life, and the costumes and make up of Ruth Jepson, which beautifully captured the period and the positions in life of all the characters involved.
On a wet and stormy evening, that would not have been out of place in the storm scene mentioned above, this production of Treasure Island was the perfect escape and will appeal to fans of and those new to the classic story, who love a high seas adventure and historical drama.