4 December -10 January
Upon entering the auditorium, we are greeted by actors, partly in costume, partly not. A chatty relaxed and interactive atmosphere is established from the outset, before Jayde Adams (Jim’s mother, Benita Gunn and parrot) steps up to the microphone and starts to work the crowd, asking for their names and exhorting us to shout out, ‘Hello Jos!’ or ‘Hello Aled!’ Eventually, she invites a certain ‘Johnny’ (Colin Leggo) up to the microphone and he draws us into the world of the story.
Thereafter, we are carried away in a welter of scenes, songs, little dances and exhilarating action, including a short but spectacularly violent clash of swords between Billy Bones (Jack Heydon) and Black Dog (Morgan Val Baker), designed for maximum dramatic impact by Kate Waters. The tightly choreographed movement, even tighter vocal harmonies and slick key changes from the multi-instrumentalist cast are bogglingly impressive. The music not only accompanies songs, but signals changes of mood and punctuates the action with timely sound effects. Yet, despite the hectic business onstage, the actors steadfastly keep our focus on the unfolding narrative.
The central character of Jim (Adryne Caulder-James) veers between amusement, bemusement and occasional fear in her encounters with the various characters magically doubled, trebled and quadrupled by the other seven cast members. Slightly mysterious is the fact she clutches her clarinet for much of the second half, without playing it, as she tries to extricate herself from her self-induced predicament.
Inevitably in a musical adaptation, much of the original plot is condensed. However, there are numerous memorable moments, such as the short but exquisite duet between Dr. Livesey (Sioned Saunders) tending to the injured Hands (Christina Tedders). Elsewhere, an otherwise staid Squire Trelawney (Morgan Val Baker) briefly pogos during one of the numbers. An extended song and dance at the beginning of the second half that morphs from a syncopated Calypso into an operatic chorale and back, rightly brought a deafening wave of appreciation from the house.
Personally, I would have liked a few more moments of danger. For example, Long John Silver (Colin Leggo), despite his gravelly sea dog voice ultimately comes across as a likeable rogue, slightly rough at the edges, but no real threat to Jim, even after she naïvely surrenders the treasure map to him. Similarly, the dense O’Brien (Jack Heydon) could perhaps be more unpredictably brutish. That said, Lloyd Gorman’s serious and understated portrayal of Jim’s father underpins the production’s emphasis on dramatic authenticity. Of course, we have been reminded – if we didn’t know already – that this is a Christmas show, so obviously nobody dies (although Billy Bones does not look at all well after his duel with Black Dog). But cranking up tension and suspense could further enhance the pleasurable comic release when it is eventually resolved.
These are small quibbles about a show that exudes joyful exuberance at every turn. The deft and dynamic direction of Paul Foster rightly pays tribute to a brilliantly virtuoso cast. Pippa Cleary’s music is beautiful and imaginatively arranged by Sarah Travis. Tom Rogers’ ingeniously designed set allows characters to climb up and down as if aboard a ship, engaging with the space in every way possible, including entrances from the auditorium and briefly terrifying the punters with glittering red-eyed monsters. Such active complicity between audience and actors precisely highlights what theatre can do that film can never do. The actors seemed genuinely delighted, even slightly overcome, by the massive applause and loud cheering their performance provoked. This superlative ensemble production deserves to tour widely, even – like the Hispaniola – beyond these shores.
★★★★★ Peter Jordan, 11 December 2025
Photography credit: Johan Persson
