Treasure Island

Yo Ho!

Treasure Island

by Jago Hazzard after R.L. Stevenson

Teddington Theatre Club at Hampton Hill Theatre, until 28^th October

Review by Celia Bard

The cast of Treasure Island certainly succeeded in entertaining their audience at yesterday’s evening performance, not least because of an unintentional promenade staging element, signalled by a fire alarm, which resulted in the actors vacating the theatre followed by the entire audience into Hampton Hill High Street where, completely unfazed, the actors provided a bit of impromptu street entertainment until a fire officer gave the all-clear.  The actors returned to the theatre, followed by the audience and the performance continued. 

This version of Treasure Island, adapted for the stage by Jago Hazzard, is a parody of the novel with the same title written by R L Stevenson and as such includes a great deal of irreverent material, comedy, corny jokes (though sometimes not), song and some very rhythmic tap dancing performed by Hugo Allain, who plays Squire Trelawney.  This is a parody with a difference for it acts as a vehicle to display a range of very good acting skills of actors, who are also required to show their knowledge of different acting styles, e.g.  Restoration comedy, Shakespeare, melodrama and slapstick ‘to boot’. 

The stage set is flexible, first as the deck of an old sailing ship with sails, ropes and captain’s quarter deck, and then as the island with movable trees.  The opening scene with the sound of screeching seagulls and waves crashing against the seashore is very atmospheric and helps to establish an element of realism.  A lot of movement of stage props is required and this was handled by the costumed actors seamlessly.  The costumes of the pirates are colourful and well-co-ordinated, so too are the costumes of all the characters.  The entrances and exits were not always slick, but this did not slow down pace.

The director’s guiding hand, that of Asha Gill, was very much in evidence throughout the play.  The stage choreography is superb including some slow movement action, which the actors were able to perform twice because of the hasty exit from the theatre!  There were excellent examples of choral movement, which was used to comedic effect and also some entertaining sword fighting.  The joy of this production was the ability of all the actors to play comic roles with serious intent. 

Caroline Gudge is an appealing Jim Hawkins, keen to escape his mother’s apron strings in order to embark on the voyage of a life time and to become a ‘man’.  This was a credible performance, believable and well-executed.  Theo Byrne and Hugo Allain who respectively play Dr Livesey and Squire Trelawny are a perfectly matched duo, especially in the tea-drinking scene at the beginning of the play, reminding us that the drinking of tea had become a common beverage in the 19^th Century.  These two actors beautifully captured the mannerisms of restoration comedy. 

Matt Dennis is an energetic, fearsome Captain Smollett, another actor with good physical and vocal skills.  Mrs Hawkins, played by Nicola Doble, is admirably suitable as the over protective mother of her son, Jim.  In this role, Nicola displays good comic skills, which come to the fore when being wooed by Josh Clarke, who plays the character roles of Captain Flint and then Ben Gunn.  Josh’s experimentation with the many different ways in which he is able to pronounce his name is priceless: he is a good character actor and the task of portraying two very different characters in the same play presented no difficulties. 

The audience are in for another treat, this time with the performance of Conor Strachan who plays Long John Silver and who is also a skilled guitar player and vocalist.  Joanna Taylor as Nell Johnson plays her role with great gusto.  The quality of her movement helps emphasise her character.  Particularly good is her sword fighting scene.  Not forgetting the remainder of the cast: the drunkard, Billy Bones, played forcefully by Ruairi O’Keefe;  Matt Ludbrook is great as Black Dog, as is his collapse after swigging too much rum; Nicky Shaw, likewise, presented the audience with a very convincing interpretation of the pirate, Isabel Hands. 

Not one of the cast dared to ‘try their hand’ when coming into contact with One-Eyed-Meg, the narrator, admirably acted by Lara Parker.  Finally, not forgetting The Parrot, Blind Pew, skilfully managed and spoken by Alex Farley.

This production of Treasure Island by Teddington Theatre Club is likely to attract audiences of different ages and interests: children will enjoy the slapstick quality of the show; members of the audience interested in the whole art of acting, drama and theatre; and those who want just to enjoy an evening of fun and ‘silliness’.  Interestingly, the event that led to the actors and audience vacating the theatre was due to the smoke machine going wrong.  It did all add to the fun of the evening, although this reviewer was pleased it wasn’t raining!

Celia Bard, October 2023

Photography by Sarah J Carter