TREASURE ISLAND: R L Stevenson (adapted Karen Louise Hebden)
Derby.
TREASURE ISLAND
by R L Stevenson adapted by Karen Louise Hebden.
Derby Playhouse.
Runs: 2hr 50min one interval.
This was a one-off performance. Derby Playhouse is now closed.
Review: Alan Geary: 29 Nov 2007.
Would have been an ideal Christmas family show.
This wasn’t the Derby Playhouse at its best, which in the circumstances (see below) is understandable.
Although this Karen Louise Hebden adaptation of the Stevenson classic wasn’t a musical there were songs: a perhaps uneasy mix of solos, sub-Gilbert and Sullivan, traditional sea-shanties; and Fifteen Men on a Dead Man’s Chest, with which it started and which was subsequently over-used. There was some vigorous ensemble singing, mercifully, without the singers looking up to the dress circle, adopting earnest expressions and lapsing into that folk-singer accent.
The coarseness of the drinking scenes led by Captain Billy Bones in the Admiral Benbow Inn was well done, notably when one of them was brought to a halt by the intervention of a courageous Dr Livesey. In that part Maurice Clarke, with his Scottish accent, seemed, despite the powdered wig, more like Dr Finlay.
Ben Roberts, as the rum-pickled Billy Bones (he also played Captain Smollett), delivered the best acting. Glyn Kerslake, who, despite make-up, still managed to be a John Major look-alike, was too young and handsome for Long John Silver. He also had to distance himself from Robert Newton - that one-time gift to bad impressionists - in the early-fifties Disney film.
James Head’s Squire Trelawney was a declaiming and comically bumbling upper-class twit. As Blind Pew, Gregory Gudgeon was too posh-sounding; and his Ben Gunn looked at the audience too much, was over-pantomimic and lacked pathos. He and Jim sang a silly song, A Piece of Cheese, in which “cheese” rhymed with “fleas”.
The thirteen-year-old Jim Hawkins was convincingly played by, an albeit young-looking, Daniel Hinchcliffe.
The fights were splendid. So were the eighteenth-century costumes. There was a minimalist revolving set, which included a cut-way apple barrel for that crucial over-hearing scene. Some of the tableau scenes looked warm and vivid, like good illustrations from a children’s book.
This would have been an ideal Christmas show for the family.
Special Note.
This was the very last performance at the Playhouse. As we arrived we were told that the theatre had already officially closed that afternoon. All concerned - actors, ice-cream sellers, the lot - had decided to go ahead with the one performance anyway. It was sad.
In the few years I’ve been reviewing at Derby Playhouse there have been some magical evenings: in no particular order, Arsenic and Old Lace, Macbeth, A Christmas Carol, Company, Johnno, Arabian Nights and Serial Killers have been my favourites, but there are others.
Thank you Karen Louise Hebden, Stephen Edwards, and everyone at Derby Playhouse.
Dr Livesey/Sharp: Maurice Clarke.
Ben Gunn/Blind Pew/Mr Arrow/Parrot: Gregory Gudgeon.
Squire Trelawney/Dirk: James Head.
Jim Hawkins: Daniel Hinchcliffe.
Black Dog/George Merry/Joyce: Conrad Kemp.
Long John Silver: Glyn Kerslake.
Israel Hands/Fight Captain/Sgt Dance/Abraham Gray/Parrot: Jay Reynolds.
Tom Morgan/Johnny/Redruth/Parrot: Christopher Rickerby.
Captain Billy Bones/Captain Smollet/Stede: Ben Roberts.
Mrs Hawkins/Anderson/Hunter: Genevieve Walsh.
Director: Karen Louise Hebden.
Designer: Sara Perks.
Lighting: Johanna Town.
Sound: Colin Pink.
Composer: Brian Protheroe.
Musical Director/Arranger: Kelvin Towse.
Fight director: Kate Waters.
2007-12-02 00:57:44