Treasure Island - review (From Wimbledon Guardian)

Treasure Island - review

3:55pm Monday 21st December 2009

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Treasure Island Venue: The Rose, Kingston
Until: January 9
rosetheatrekingston.org

What's the story? Young Jim Hawkins sets sale for the Caribbean with Captain Smollett, Doctor Livesey and Squire Trelawney on the hunt for buried treasure which will make their fortunes. But Long John Silver and his band of pirates have other ideas and Hawkins is soon caught up in a terrifying and life changing adventure that will see him turn from a boy to a man.

The Good From the sound of the first sea shanty to the boom of the last cannon, the Rose's staging of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic adventure Treasure Island is a swashbuckling roller-coaster ride not to be missed this Christmas. Never before has the boys-own tale of skulduggery on the high seas been brought to life in such gripping, original and entertaining fashion.

Those of a nervous disposition might do well to beware the one-legged man, but in truth family members of all ages will have their timbers well-and-truly shivered by this ripping yarn.

The Bad Not for the fainthearted, Karen Louise Hebden's adaptation stays faithful to original, with frightening characters, sword fights and deaths. The show has a minimum age of six, and nervous young children may find some of the scenes a little too scary.

The Funny Cheese-loving Ben Gunn provides many of the show's laughs. The marooned ex-seaman has been driven half insane from isolation, coming to Hawkins aid on the promise of some Parmesan. Luckily for the audience, he finds the time to serenade Hawkins with an entire song devoted to his love of the yellow stuff.

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