Magic tricks, swashbuckling action and truly spectacular sets are the main draws in the National Theatre’s new staging of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. This is high-end family fare that just about lives up to the standards the National has set itself over the years for pulling off crowd-pleasing Christmas blockbusters — their previous hits including War Horse and His Dark Materials.
Polly Findlay directs from a (slightly) highfalutin’ adaptation by Bryony Lavery with the story reconfigured to include more feisty female roles than in the original boy’s own adventure. Patsy Ferran plays earnest cabin girl Jim, with jokey asides made to that gender confusion throughout, who comes of age as the action spreads from the West Country to the high seas and onto the eponymous atoll.
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