Treasure Island, Theatre Royal, Brighton, April 1

1:28pm Wednesday 2nd April 2008

The word treasure usually sends streams of imaginary gold dubloons cascading through my fingers.

A pity, then, that this production's emphasis was on the island, rather than Stevenson's fantasy combination of untold riches and stormy seas.

The adventure begins when the dying Captain Billy Bones gives a map to young barman Jim Hawkins.

After much faffing about and a couple of desultory sea shanties, a motley crew - sponsored by Squire Trelawney (played by the affable Leo Atkins) and accompanied by a strangely cuddly Long John Silver (Gavin Robertson) - sets sail in search of ill-gotten gains.

Stevenson's descriptions of life at sea are what make his tales perfect film fodder.

So how would his ripping yarn be brought to the stage? Would it get a panto-like treatment?

No, this was a straight play. And despite Matthew Weyland's satisfyingly menacing George Merry and Brendan Foster's delightfully dastardly portrayal of both Black Dog and Israel Hands, it was too timed to appeal to most adults and too static to satisfy your average kid.

Great sweeps of orchestral music and some imaginative lighting may well have transformed this land-locked drama into a swashbuckling sea adventure. Shame that such obvious, yet effective devices were not used.

Generations of disgruntled schoolboys would have deemed whoever decided to replace the sought-after treasure with an orange filter on a stage light worthy of a jolly good keel-hauling, at the very least.

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