TREASURE ISLAND the Pantomime Directed & Written by Sam Davis Barton Theatre Company Such classics as Peter Pan have been turned into pantomimes with great success. Robert Louis Stephenson’s Treasure Island has undergone the same theatrical treatment. Company member Sam Davis took this classic and created a refreshingly different Pythonesque styled pantomime. All the characters, to the delight of the audience, were delivered in a surreal Monty Python style: all the humour from Long John’s missing peg leg to Captain Flint being a parrot came flooding over. To make this work the company was a tight ship of performers never allowing the pace to drop. They kept the pirate story light and breezy with lots of fun, puns and seasonal folly. The story is related by Billy Bones, played with piratical expertise by Mike Bowen. The action begins in the Bimbo Inn with Jim Hawkings, a hardworking cocktail maker. Dan Chadwick as the juvenile lead Jim, was very likeable, fully owning the stage with his daring-do. Entering, as though straight from “Funny Girls”, landlady Dame Roberta Crusoe took the stage. Brian Cogswell, with Lily Savage delivery, royally entertained as Dame Crusoe and here was a master class in adlibbing. The treasure map has had been obtained and the adventure begins. Leading the adventurers is Dr Trelawney from the Emerald Isle (well, for this production) eccentrically and hilariously characterised by Gareth Smith. The good Doctor is assisted by Abigail Grey, brightly portrayed by Ish McMichael. All the antics and audience interaction on the good ship
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