Trailer here:
Generally highly enjoyable version and characteristically well-produced. The set was simply effective and quite spectacular in places - the first appearance of the ship and the descent into the tunnels being two highlights. I did not think the songs , with the exception of the ending, really added much (although perhaps necessary for some scene changes, but this may be my dislike of folk/sea-shanty type music. revealing itself.
As far as I can recall, the plot kept pretty faithfully to the book although I do not think anything was gained by having the Doctor and Jim played as females - although nothing was harmed tbh. There was a nice leavening of humour throughout which I do not recall from the original, with Grandma and the Squire in particular. Blind Pew and his first appearance was not as terrifying as I recall from the book but Long John Silver was interesting. He seemed a more rounded individual than came across on the book, with both positive aspects (a certain saturnine charm, charisma even) and negative ( a vicious more ruthless side). An interestingly rounded picture.
Ben Gun was very vividly done and a LOT less irritating than I recall from the book.
in terms of direction,the fights were very well done with full use of the space of the stage being well used and lighting was, particularly for the night scenes, beautifully evocative -although why the first section was so dimly lit was baffling and at times irritating.
So, not I think one of the best of the NT Christmas shows (which I think this was) but a pretty sound effort.
Cast:
Jim Hawkins Patsy Ferran
Grandma Gillian Hanna
Bill Bones Aidan Kelly
Dr Livesey Alexandra Maher
Squire Trelawney & Voice of Parrot Nick Fletcher
Red Ruth Heather Dutton
Job Anderson Raj Bajaj
Silent Sue Lena Kaur
Black Dog Daniel Coonan
Blind Pew David Sterne
Captain Smollett Paul Dodds
Long John Silver Arthur Darvill
Lucky Mickey Jonathan Livingstone
Joan the Goat Claire-Louise Cordwell
Israel Hands Angela De Castro
Dick the Dandy David Langham
Killigrew the Kind Alastair Parker
George Badger Oliver Birch
Grey Tim Samuels
Ben Gunn Joshua James
Shanty Singer Roger Wilson
Parrot Ben Thompson
Director: Polly Findlay