Silver lining

YOU wouldn't bet many pieces of eight that the creators of a stage adaptation of Treasure Island, endorsed by the Robert Louis Stevenson Society, would select The Muppets as the second-best tale-tellers.

But Wee Stories leading light Andy Cannon rates the 1996 film Muppet Treasure Island as far closer to Stevenson's rollicking sea adventure than most others.

The actor bringing the world's greatest pirate story to Newcastle's Theatre Royal says: "I think the best other adaptation I've seen of Treasure Island has been The Muppets because they were very true to the story. Tim Curry played Long John Silver and the parrot was played by a lobster... and I really take my hat off to them for that. It was a great idea."

The Edinburgh-based Wee Stories production is portrayed by Cannon and co-creator Iain Johnstone as two musicians who are marooned like Ben Gunn on an island with just bananas, champagne, a double bass and a copy of Treasure Island for company.

He explains: "What Iain and I looked at were the double acts in the piece and the best-known pair are Long John Silver (Johnstone) and Jim Hawkins (Cannon) who are the soul of the piece. Silver is the fascinating character and one of the first anti-heroes in literature.

"We gave a couple of characters the black spot like Doctor Livesey while I take on the roles of both Blind Pew and Jack. At one point Iain plays Jim's mother as part of another double act and the audience will just have to wait and see how we bring Ben Gunn (the poor wretch marooned on Treasure Island) to life."

How hard is it to bring one of the classic children's stories to the stage? "It's just the two of us. It's not hard work in that it's a problem hard work but it is a demanding show. One of the reasons we do it, is that we perform Treasure Island as a story and it means the book is present during the production. No one is in any doubt whatsoever, by the end of the night, that the book is written by Robert Louis Stevenson and it's something they should read themselves."

One of the reasons that Wee Stories chose to tour the family drama, which is recommended for anyone over the age of eight, is that the characters in Treasure Island are some of the most famous fictional names in the world.

Cannon says: "I'd say that, before Harry Potter came along, only Sherlock Holmes is more famous than Long John Silver. A lot of people don't know the story but they know Silver because when anyone does the cod pirate it's always an impersonation of him. What the Scots did for tartan, Long John Silver did for pirates.

"There are some fantastic lines from the book we use like 'Oxen and wain-ropes would not bring me back again to that accursed island'... and we use it ourselves with reference to some theatres."

He believes the fascination of generations centres on a tale that starts out as a 19th century romp and then becomes "about a wee boy miles from home who had fallen in with the wrong people. We do say to the audience at one point 'this isn't a fish finger commercial, these people cut throats'."

Wee Stories doesn't believe in dumbing down its productions and Cannon complains that too often young dramas avoid complicated plots.

He says: "Our belief is that the words complicated and confusing are not the same thing. If children are lead through something that's quite involved they love it. But children understand the international rules of quidditch and the Lord Of The Rings trilogy and what's nice about Treasure Island is it allows us to highlight the motivations for children to read it or for adults to re-read it."

At the moment, Cannon refuses to reveal the two or three stories being considered for Wee Stories next production mainly because so many people then want to know when and where they can see the production.

The most nerve-wracking moment about the adventures of Jim and Long John was when the pair discovered that a huge party from the Robert Louis Stevenson Society had booked tickets.

He explains: "About 200 of them bought a block of tickets for grandchildren and themselves and they loved it. It was intimidating, but in seconds they liked the show and gave it a big thumbs up. I think it's the fact that Stevenson is on stage with us and we're making that point about the book.

"Some of the cuts that have been made in films have actually changed the whole thing so much that only the characters are the same."

* Wee Stories production of Treasure Island runs at Newcastle's Theatre Royal, March 29-April 2. Box Office: 0870 905 5060 .

Published: 24/03/2005