There is no doubt about it, when Daniel Bell puts his mark on a theatrical production we can be assured of highly entertaining, family fun and ‘Treasure Island’ was no different.
With outrageous ideas, such as a bunch of pirates putting on Caribbean cruises, and a regular flow of corny and not so corny jokes, we were held spellbound.
Audience participation was encouraged, so much that sometimes the actors had to wait for the audience to finish.
At moments like these there were delightful asides as the actor said ‘I can wait’ even though it obviously wasn’t in the script.
The characterisation, the choreography and the music, among other aspects, were wonderful.
Long John Silver (played by Terry Gauci) with ‘one of everything’ was a strong character with gravelly voice and tremendous wit.
Young Jim Hawkins (Kieran Morris) pursued his goal to find a niche in the world with youthful endeavour. His expressive singing was particularly impressive.
Black Beard (Terry Burns) was definitely someone you would not like to meet on a dark night and he carried his role perfectly – sinister but not too sinister so the children delighted in his roguishness.
Knobbly Knees (William Males) was a wizard at facial expressions and Sea Dog Billy (Oliver Scott) milked the humour of his role superbly.
The Lost Princess (Hannah Shaw) must have had the only straight role in this hilarious romp and she kept this role exquisitely. She was indeed a beautiful princess with a beautiful voice and credible acting.
The choreography by Katherine Hickmott was amazing. It keep the flavour of sea-going pirates alive, while some of the movements had us in awe with the performers’ incredible agility and speed and the carefully mapped stage positioning of the performers.
The music directed by James Golborn was flawless and carefully designed so that even though there were only two performers, this musical show had the perfect backing and setting of the mood in the huge variety of scenes.
The singing was superb and choruses added a professional touch. I loved the drums, thanks to Ian Bee! The Junior Choruses were also splendid additions.
Other worthy contributors include Jessica Theobald (Associate Choreographer), Mark Webber (Musical Arrangements) and Gregory Jordan (Lighting Design) and the unsung heroes in the creative, and production teams and providers.
If you want good, clean family fun you must book early for the next KD production, which is the Christmas pantomime, ‘Beauty and the Beast’.
It will be at The Maltings from December 22 to January 14.
Visit www.kdtheatre.co.uk or call 01638 781037 for tickets.
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