Stevenson’s classic is often pigeonholed as the archetypal boys’ adventure story. But the cheering thing about Bryony Lavery’s new adaptation and Polly Findlay’s production is that they redress the gender balance while preserving the narrative’s excitement. At the same time, Lizzie Clachan’s design offers the most imaginative use of the Olivier’s technical resources we have seen in a long time.
Jim Hawkins remains the story’s pivotal figure. But, as played by the remarkable Patsy Ferran, the character is now a girl in constant rebellion against easy classification. Ferran’s Jim is terrified, as any teenager would be, by the succession of pirates who invade her grandma’s inn and, hearing of a one-legged sailor, has nightmare visions of severed limbs. Once aboard the Hispaniola, however, she fiercely resents being told that “maps are for men, not girls” and seems puzzled by the tentative advances made by the ship’s cook.
My only doubt about Lavery’s determination to reverse traditional gender roles came when the female Dr Livesey gratuitously said of some recalcitrant pirate, “Snuff him out like the brief candle all men really are.” That aside, the great virtue of this production is that it offers variations on Stevenson’s original without vandalising it. There are frequent surprises, such as the discovery of a statue of the Virgin Mary in Billy Bones’s chest, or the inclusion of Silent Sue and Joon the Goat among the ship’s crew. But this version, like the book, is a tribute to the wit, honour and resourcefulness of children, especially when compared with the adults. And in many ways, Arthur Darvill’s Long John Silver is closer to the book than the rolling-eyed version patented by Robert Newton in the famous movie. Stevenson describes Silver as “tall and strong” with an intelligent, smiling face; and Darvill gives us a character whose very danger lies in his insidious charm.
Good as the performances are, including those of Joshua James as a cheese-fixated Ben Gunn and Tim Samuels as the permanently overlooked Grey, it is the designs that constantly astonish. The Hispaniola rises up before us like a mighty exhalation, allowing us to see a cross-section of the schooner’s teeming life. Once on the island, the ship’s overarching ribs turn into bendy, sinister branches. Every curved tumulus also acquires an unnerving pliability and the marshy ground becomes a potential deathtrap. But this is symptomatic of a show that gives new life to a loved book and reminds us, through its adventurous casting, that bravery and daring are not a male prerogative.
• Until 8 April. Venue: Olivier, London. Buy tickets for Treasure Island from theguardianboxoffice.com
