TREASURE ISLAND at the Royal Lyceum Theatre

★★★

“They are as talented a bunch of pirates as you’re ever likely to see on the high seas”

This year’s holiday season offering at the Lyceum Theatre is an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s story of piracy on the high seas, and buried treasure. Adapted for the stage by Orkey based writer Duncan McLean, and directed by Wils Wilson, a talented cast of six launch a modern version of Treasure Island set in Leith, in a home for “reformed pirates.”

Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale, written in the nineteenth century, has been adapted countless times for film and television. These are the obvious choices of media for a story that ranges across vast distances, and with a large cast of memorable characters. By modernizing Stevenson’s story, McLean tackles both the difficulty of adapting Treasure Island for the stage, and reducing the number of characters to a manageable size. In a home for “reformed pirates”, we meet a contemporary version of the boy Jim Hawkins, who has been left in charge of a bunch of unruly pirates. To pass the time, they tell a story of their swashbuckling days. The cast of six take on various roles, including pirates, a castaway, Jim’s mum—and let’s not forget the puffin. McLean has cleverly updated Long John Silver’s iconic parrot to a bird well known to Orkney Islanders. The puppet puffin plays a major role. This version of Treasure Island is presented in a dramatic form that will be familiar to fans of Kneehigh Theatre. So there’s plenty to look at as the cast deftly goes about transforming the space on stage. From a pirate “home” to a ship at sea, and the ultimate destination, a “treasure” island, the cast are constantly on the move, and that includes climbing up and down a variety of multi-purpose ladders.

The cast themselves are very representative of a modern theatre company. The role of Long John Silver has been transformed into Lean Jean Silver, and Amy Conachan brings all of Silver’s memorable villainy to her interpretation, as she wheels herself nimbly around the stage. She has a lovely singing voice too. Jim is played by Jade Chan, and the rest of the company Tim Dalling (Ben Gunn), TJ Holmes (The Laird), Itxaso Moreno (Billy Bones) and Dylan Read (puppeteer for The Puffin) not only act, but sing and play a variety of musical instruments. They are as talented a bunch of pirates as you’re ever likely to see on the high seas. Set and costume designer Alex Berry has made an equally versatile creations for the actors to play in. Tim Dalling’s compositions range from hearty pirate songs to plaintive ballads. And the puppet designers, directors and makers (Ailsa Dalling, Sarah Wright and Julia Jeulin) have created a delightful puffin who will charm audiences of all ages.

In spite of the updates, though, McLean’s adaptation falls short. It is too long for the slender premise of telling stories to prevent pirates from backsliding into their piratical ways. There is too much of an assumption that the audience is familiar with the novel. And it’s true that Long John Silver’s parrot, “X” marks the spot, and any number of phrases from Stevenson’s classic novel have passed into common usage. Though these days, audiences are more likely to associate ‘“X” marks the spot’ with Indiana Jones, rather than Jim Hawkins. This version of Treasure Island compresses the plot, as it has to do, given the length of the novel, but not in a way that clarifies the story. Moving the action to Scottish locations doesn’t help all that much. McLean’s Treasure Island is still Jim Hawkins’ story, but Jim himself has been transformed from a boy in search of a father figure after his own has died, to a boy who has to take over running his absent mother’s home for reformed pirates. Somehow, it’s not quite the same.

Treasure Island is a bold choice of a show for a theatre wishing to move away from more conventional Christmas fare, but audiences looking for something that celebrates the holiday spirit may feel that this show would be better saved for another time of year.