This show is really fun: three performers in some barebones theatre - ultimate Fringe style, nothing but a black box - telling a comic version of Treasure Island. No set, no props, no problems as they use vocal sound effects, outrageous physical characterisation and ridiculous voices to produce a performance that is energetic, entertaining, and doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Those familiar with Treasure Island will know that Long John Silver and Billy Bones both took half of a treasure map and so on and so forth. Those unfamiliar with Treasure Island will probably not find out exactly what happened next but they won’t mind, as the comedy is broad and widely appealing, the three performers are talented, charismatic and engaging and there are gags a-plenty.
Some surreal touches - a pair of helpful mermen or the talking squid, for example - will stump those trying to make the connections with Robert Louis Stevenson’s tale but a knowledge of the source text is not required, or even encouraged. Not Treasure Island is a part of the Story Project - in which the company devise theatre based on books they loved as children, entirely from memory - so deviation from the original story is part of the creative process.
The danger with this kind of comedy is how easily it can fall into a trap of too many ‘in jokes’ enjoyed more by the performers than the audience but Sleeping Trees keep the humour accessible. The scurvy crew who join Jimmy the Cabin Boy and Long John Silver on their quest across the waves are drawn in bold strokes that often verge on the absurd but the story clips along at a frantic pace and, apart from some very long fight scenes, avoids getting bogged down in too many ludicrous digressions.
Stumps feature heavily, as do peg legs, hooks for hands and many a gruesome death – just as there ought to be in any piratical adventure. If you have ever yearned for adventure on the high seas then this is worth stumping up a fiver for.
