If you don’t have plans for this weekend, now you do—go see the fantastic theatrical version of Treasure Island playing at the Irondale Theater in Brooklyn as it might be your last opportunity, at least for a while. Based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, both kids and adults will love this story about swashbuckling pirates, treachery, treasure, and a young man’s rite of passage.

Narrated by its main character, a young boy named Jim Hawkins (played to perfection by Noah E. Galvin) works with his mother at the family’s tavern where he meets Billy Bones (John Ahlin) and learns that Bones was once a member of a pirate crew led by Captain Flint (Rod Brogan). Flint had hid a rather considerable treasure on an island in the Caribbean, but Flint is now dead, and Bones has the map to the treasure. Eventually Flint’s old crew comes looking for him, and more importantly, the map. Drinking and fighting ensue, and Bones dies, but not before leaving the treasure map where Jim finds it.

When Squire Trelawney (Kenneth Tigar) discovers all this, he puts together an expedition to find the treasure, inviting the local doctor (Rocco Sisto) as well as Jim, who manages to convince his tearful mother that he’s old enough to partake in the adventure. Of course, it takes more than three people to man a ship, so the squire hires an honest Scotsman, Captain Smollett (Steve Blanchard), as well as a rabble of sailors including a one-legged man named Long John Silver (Tom Hewitt) who—surprise!—turn out to be pirates who’ve heard about the map and are determined to find the buried treasure themselves. Mayhem, marauding, and mutiny ensue as the pirates and the good guys battle to find Flint’s treasure. Along the way, an unlikely friendship forms between Jim and Silver, the leader of the pirates.

Exciting, enthralling, and downright fun describe this wonderful production. The play, over a decade in the making, was co-written, directed, and produced by B.H. Barry, who was recently awarded Broadway’s highest honor, a Tony Award for Excellence in Theatre, and who is considered the world’s leading fight director for the stage. And it shows—the numerous combat and sophisticated swordplay scenes are impeccably done.

Set designer Tony Straiges should win an award for transforming Irondale Theater into the Hispaniola, complete with towering mast, lanyards, sails, and row boats, in addition to stage wagons that re-configure into a seaside tavern, docks, and forts. And just as brilliant are the elaborate 18th-century style costumes designed by Luke Brown that make the characters authentic.

Thirteen actors each play multiple roles, and all of them embody every part perfectly. Special kudos go to Ken Shatz, who not only plays three roles but also serves as the musical director, singing the beginning of many songs while dangling from the rigging of the ship, eventually joined in chorus by the rest of the cast. There’s even a live parrot who adds a few lines of dialog as well! Barry kept the language of the original story, so the audience, especially the kids, will be speaking like pirates when they leave the show.

The production was created to be a family-friendly event. Young children might be frightened by the convincingly authentic firearms that discharge or the sword fighting, violence, and occasional murder—this is a play about pirates after all—but kids over the age of ten should be fine. In fact, the children in the audience were laughing and having quite a grand time watching the spine-tingling adventure come to life in front of their eyes.

This production is intended to serve as a tryout, drumming up interest from producers and theater owners for a potential future life as an off-Broadway play in Manhattan or possibly a Broadway run. There’s no question that this play is as good as, or even better, than many Broadway productions, and it has the potential for a long life ahead of it. So if you can’t see it this weekend, keep an eye out for future performances. And in the meantime, grab a copy of Stevenson’s classic novel and enjoy the captivating tale of adventure.

Photos by Ken Howard

Treasure Island
Based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson
Adapted for the stage by Vernon Morris and B. H. Barry
Directed by B.H. Barry
Irondale Ensemble Project
85 South Oxford Street
718-488-9233
www.treasureislandtheplay.org
Through March 26, 2011