The Lyceum Christmas show has landed! And in the tradition of Lyceum Christmas shows passed it (thankfully!) takes a wide berth around the ‘panto’ genre and serves up its own idiosyncratic recipe; take a classic tale, give it an Edinburgh flavour, a sprinkling of humour, a seasonal twist, a large dollop of live music and action, and serve it firmly tongue -in-cheek and aimed squarely at the family market. For the most part, Treasure Island, adapted by Orkney based writer, Duncan McLean, achieves its objectives, and the production is hilarious, fast-paced and always wonderfully musical.
In a clever plot twist, we start our tale in a rest home for reformed pirates, no beards, no swashbuckling and absolutely no treasure hunts… Awwww! But old habits are hard to break, timbers require to be shivered, and the ex-pirates are champing at the bit to break into a chorus of Fifteen Men on a Dead Man’s Chest. And as for a bedtime story there is only one that they will entertain… thus our tale of Treasure Island is recounted.
Jade Chan gets the lion’s share of lines, acting as both narrator and playing our protagonist, Jim Hawkins, with a sensitivity and great clarity, albeit overly serious at times and with a naivety which belies her supposedly tough upbringing. But it is early days in this six-week run, plenty of time to bed in.
Amy Conachan, puts in a fine shift as Lean Jean Silver, replacing the wooden leg of the original character with a wheelchair and showing that disability is no impediment at all to full-on sword fight scenes! She also provides the finest vocal performance of the talented ensemble with some divine solos.
But it is the free-wheeling accordion playing, Tim Dalling who steals the show after the interval with his wonderful word-twisting, cheese-loving island dweller, Ben Gunn. A hilarious creation who skips and jumps and creates something quite unexpected, that has the kids and adults alike whooping with laughter.
Wonderfully inventive staging and set and lighting ensure that the story moves along apace. A nice touch is the front apron being used to depict the sea, characters falling or diving into the apron being immediately washed in blue light and moving and gurgling appropriately.
In these belt-tightening times economy is the name of the game when it comes to set; a tea trolley becomes a galley, a ladder becomes a mountain, and a potted plant thrust through a trapdoor becomes the titular island – and gets the biggest laugh of the night! Which is exactly as it should be.
I do think, for all the good here, this is also a bit of a missed opportunity in sailing so far from the original. The Hero’s Journey of Hawkins and the real peril of Stevenson’s original tale is sorely lacking in this re-telling, which is the real shame, because I think the young folk and adults here would have leaned right into that.
Playing until 4 January 2025, https://lyceum.org.uk/
Reviewer: Greg Holstead
Reviewed: 29th November 2024
North West End UK Rating:
Running time – 2hrs 20mins (with interval)
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