Playwright: John Hildreth, from the R. L. Stephenson novel. At: Lifeline Theatre, 6912 N. Glenwood. Tickets: 773-761-4477; www.lifelinetheatre.com; $30. Runs through: Nov. 1
With a barely adolescent hero heading an all-male ensemble, this production might be called "Nine-and-a-Half Men." But Jim Hawkins ( Warren Weber, rapidly emerging in height and ability ) , who is 12 or 13 years old in Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, fills a man's shoes with his courage, initiative and upstanding character. He's the perfect model of the upwardly-mobile 19th-century boy heroes created by Dickens, Horatio Alger, Jr., and Stephenson, although Stephenson pushes the moral envelope by having Hawkins kill a man ( in self-defense ) .
Everyone knows some version of Treasure Islandfilm, stage play, musicalso the question is, "Does it still hold interest?" The answer most definitely is "Yes," although with two reservations. It very much remains an immensely colorful nonstop action yarn, mostly related by Jim but never weighed down by narration in John Hildreth's swift and smart adaptation. All adaptations make some changes, and Hildreth drops the only significant female character ( Jim's mother ) and dramatizes the backstory.
My qualifications are two, and some may think them quibbles. First, Hildreth never reveals if Jim reaps material benefits from his adventure. Does he score some of the enormous treasure so assiduously pursued? After all, he is the character who most needs wealth to improve his social standing. Written in the early 1880s, the novel is set in 1759, when English society pretty much consisted of haves and have-nots, and Jim and his innkeeper parents were on the lowest fringe of respectability despite their honorable natures.
Secondly, Hildreth's slam-bang version is one action sequence after another, each given the same physical and emotional weight as the one before and the one following. As a result, this stage version never really comes to a specific climax and particularly lacks an emotional build. We need to be able to invest more in Jim and his relationship withwho?someone, perhaps his guardian, Dr. Livesey ( rock-solid Patrick Blashill ) , or even the charmingly slick Long John Silver ( engaging Sean Sinitski, cast against type ) . Hildreth and director Robert Kauzlaric may need to address this issue together.
But, hey, you're gonna enjoy Kauzlaric's athletic staging, Geoff Coates's great action sequences, Branimira Ivanova's rich and raggedy costumes and, especially, Alan Donohue's dead-on scenic design, essentially a multi-level ship ( well-lit by Kevin D. Gawley ) . He's done his research and/or visited a ship's chandler, for his details are accurate down to the belaying pins and the not-too-tightly-strung rope ladder-rigging. Kudos, also, to dialect coach Phil Timberlake, nursing his ensemble through a rich and accurate range of English, Scots and Irish dialects ( what, no Welsh? ) , with Christopher M. Walsh taking honors for his great Scot's burr. The entire ensemble is nimble, as they must be, making this Nine-and-a-Half Menooops, Treasure Islanda fine escapist night out.