![](https://www.sardinesmagazine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Lauren-Drennan-in-Treasure-Island-at-Greenwich-Theatre-Photo-credit-Lidia-Crisafulli.jpg)
Show: Treasure Island
Society: Greenwich Theatre (professional)
Venue: Greenwich Theatre. Crooms Hill, London SE10 8ES
Credits: by Le Navet Bete and John Nicholson, directed by James Haddrell. Based on the story by Robert Louis Stevenson
Type: Sardines
Author: Kevin Doig
Performance Date: 23/08/2022
Treasure Island
Kevin Doig | 27 Aug 2022 12:36pm
Lauren Drennan in Treasure Island at Greenwich Theatre. All photos: Lidia Crisafulli
Comedy, music and a rollicking adventure
A pantomime for the summer holidays? Well, that’s what this production of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island is, essentially. And rather more pantomime than R.L. Stevenson!
Performed by a cast of just four actors, their many talents certainly make the whole thing work well and move along at great pace despite what must be lightning speed costume changes taking place backstage. Between them, they portray more thanthirty different characters and with David Haller playing only the one (the central Jim Hawkins character) the other three, Elliot Bornmann, Lauren Drennan and Helen Ramsay, are left to cope with all the others. And they all do a brilliant job, too. Mostly, Elliott plays the female parts and Lauren and Helen cover the male parts – well that’s pantomime for you!
I attended with a seven year old companion (and his grandparents) to get a child’s take on the production and he arrived with his trusty parrot already in the mood for a swashbuckling show – and he was not disappointed. Other children in the audience were in full pirate garb, too. It was clearly a family treat for many who were there.
The production was surprisingly dark in places with a number of the characters being shot dead on stage! Not that this was a problem to any of the children in the audience as far as I could tell. I think sometimes today we over-protect children from the death elements of adventure stories. The opening scene was of the pirates being found burying their treasure and promptly shot dead. Four characters despatched in the first five minutes! But this atmospheric prologue enhanced by effective lighting and stormy sound-effects set the scene for what was to come.
Once the front cloth was removed we had the utility set which was effectively used for all the scenes throughout the whole show with subtle but clever dressing changes to transport us between a bar, at the docks, on board the ship, and on the island. A wooden panelled structure dominating stage right had no problem in changing from the interior of a pub, to the bridge of the pirate ship to a shelter on the island very convincingly and with little effort. Stage centre (most of the time) was a suitably cloaked electric piano (all the music accompaniment was provided by the cast, chiefly a clearly gifted Haller, but with others adding percussion and other melody) mounted in a wooden box which had a pub sign, wooden panel and even a Welsh flag attached to it to tell us where we were. And down left was a very well used trap door doubling as the burial plot of the treasure and an acid marsh in which a character sank, amongst other things. Lauren Connolly was the designer – and an excellent job she did.
After meeting Jim Hawkins we were soon introduced to his Aunt Agnes played by Multi-talented Bormann. Ah – this would be the dame-character in the pantomime, then. This was confirmed when she started flirting with a selected audience member (Matthew). We were quickly assured that she would be a very funny character throughout the show. But then, horror of horrors, she was shot dead in cold blood by the evil Long John Silver (Drennan complete with wooden leg!) in full view of the audience. In brilliant technique, after the three dead characters fell to the floor, they were covered in blankets but moments later they simply stood up, substituted their bodies with pillows and covered them with the same blankets and walked off stage. All done in full view of the audience but the magic was not lost – audience’s imaginations easily adapt to the situation. When there’s only four in the cast, one has to come up with techniques like this and it all worked so well. Hawkins is quickly tricked into joining Silver on the quest for the treasure along with the rather furtive Captain Birdseye (only the best for the Captain’s table) portrayed suitably enigmatically by Ramsay.
The show was fast moving, full of gags and comedy routines (“Who went first” variation, funny storm scene where one character is repeatedly soaked, “Blankety Blank” with an audience “volunteer”), great songs (some original, but others well-known like Elvis Presley “Trouble” and Bonnie Tyler “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” which was my personal biggest laugh out loud moment) and rollicking adventure.
The seven year old who was with me? Well, he really enjoyed the whole show but his favourite part was the talking parrot Alexa, with an original and funny running gag, who was very, very convincingly operated using a mixture of puppetry, mime and vocal work by Bornmann, who also gave us the biggest laughs in his mermaid and Ben Gunn roles.
Fast moving – hilarious comedy routines – great songs – rollicking adventure. Who could ask more for a summer holiday treat? Well done Greenwich Theatre!