Treasure Island at The Old Rep Birmingham

Today marked our first theatre trip as a family of four! We headed to Birmingham’s Old Rep Theatre to see Treasure Island. I was a little nervous that our one month old baby might not enjoy the show as much as the rest of family. I need not have been so worried. As we came into the theatre staff were immediately helpful with opening doors and storing our pram securely in the cloakroom. Littlest Lady slept through most of the show only surfacing to top up on milk. I was so pleased that we’d all made it out the house and done something that my older daughter really enjoyed.

Within minutes of the show starting, Little Lady, aged 6, was giggling away. The Treasure Island story, first published as a book in 1883, had been cleverly adapted to entertain a family audience in 2019. The characters introduced themselves and the children watching quickly caught onto the fact that this was a hunt for treasure. Early on in the show, the cast had the audience participating with actions and songs. The theme of audience participation continued throughout. One brave child even joined in some magic tricks and jokes up on the stage.

There was a fair bit of tumbling and blundering around the stage- good old slapstick humour that went down very well with the young audience. However, the funniest part of this was a scene with a hover board. The actor playing Jim Hawkins had the audience laughing away as he wheeled around the stage pretending (I think!) to be out of control. As he headed towards the audience on the hover board, I wondered for a moment if he would be able to stop at the edge of the stage. The scene culminated in a very funny and clever magic trick.

I must mentioned the mermaid! Think less Little Mermaid but instead picture a blond wigged pantomime dame with a very gruff voice. Little Lady thought the mermaid was the funniest character. She laughed uncontrollably as we witnessed the mermaid dive into the sea only to realise the tide had gone out. As the mermaid attempted to ‘swim’ across the stage, younger members of the audience near the front even heckled and this added to everyone’s amusement.

This was a great family show and I am amazed and delighted that we made it as a family. We joined in songs and actions, laughed at jokes and slapstick and genuinely had a great time. Treasure Island is a fun family show that is guaranteed to amuse and entertain.

Thanks to The Old Rep for inviting us along to review the show.
https://www.oldreptheatre.co.uk

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