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MacKid Parent Review of "Treasure Island"

Encore Stage and Studio

By Christina Fairman March 1, 2016

Treasure Island

Encore Stage and Studio's production of Treasure Island was...well...not what I was expecting. And I mean that in the best way possible! The script was written by Matthew Heap and was adapted from the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. That "adaptation" is fairly loose...

The play was designated as being for ages 6 and up, but I've come to realize that many age restrictions for live children's performances are less for content and more because children need to be developmentally capable of good theater behavior. I figured if my four-year-old could sit through an hour of Italian opera at Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage, she'd be fine with a children's production of Treasure Island. Plus she and her dad have already the book together and, frankly, the content of a modern play written for child actors and an audience of children can't be any worse than the content from a children's story published in 1883. So we grabbed a friend and headed for a night out a a theater to see a play with, as the friend said, "real actors!"
My daughter had asked if there would be singing, so she was delighted that Treasure Island opened up with a sea chantey. The play flips the original Treasure Island on its boy-audience head by making the main character (Jim) into a girl named Jemma who dresses up as a boy to go on a treasure hunting adventure. Add in six girls who are sick of the boys having all the fun and who decide to follow them to Treasure Island, and even those who've read Treasure Island won't be able to predict what happens next! The play is a fast-paced show featuring songs during scene changes. The actors run through the aisles among the audience members. You'll learn all about "horse dovers," see a performance of "Oops I Did it Again," and experience pop culture references--including Sponge Bob Squarepants. Of course.

 

Treasure Island is playing at Thomas Jefferson Community Theatre in Arlington on select dates through March 6. We've been to two performances there in the past few months, and think it's a great venue. Fancy enough for the kids to feel like they're going to the theatre and all the seats have a good view. There's a fifteen minute intermission between acts and concessions are available in the lobby (they have Pirate's Booty!). Grab your kids a spend an evening sailing for adventure on the high seas!

This production runs February 26-March 6, 2016 at Thomas Jefferson Community Theatre (125 S. Old Glebe Road Arlington, Virginia 22204).