IT’S the classic tale of Treasure Island, but as you’ve never seen or – more to the point – heard before.
For their winter tour of village halls and community venues, the Castle Players have come up with a unique way of telling Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic.
It is being staged as a play within a play, with the story told by the Radio Revellers – a troupe of faded stars – who not only have to read the script but create all the sound effects as well.
The show is inspired by the radio plays of yesteryear, going back to the 1930s.
Director Gordon Duffy McGhie said: “It’s a comedy, but the thrill of Treasure Island remains.
“The storytelling should come through but at the same time it is the joy of watching quite glamorous people doing quite silly things,” he said.
Sound effects range from recreating a creaking door using a balloon to the use of coconuts for galloping horses plus various coins, shells, cloth, parts of a bush and a big chest of sand.
Mr Duffy-McGhie said getting the timing right was all important.
He added: “It’s about reading the script and presenting it to the audience but as if we are speaking to the radio.”
He said the Players’ winter tour offered the group the chance to do something different.
“The idea of a winter tour is to keep actors busy between the big summer tours and offer different styles of theatre.
“One of the best parts is turning different spaces into something other than a more familiar village hall.”
The tour begins at The Witham, Barnard Castle, on Saturday, January 14 and continues until Sunday, February 12. For details of dates, times, venues and tickets, go to www.castleplayers.co.uk.
