Treasure Island - Written by Robert Till, Directed by Robert Till
Miss Purity Hawkins, the dame, is the landlady of the Admiral Benbow Inn. She has lost her husband when he ran off to sea so she runs the pub with her son Jim and Barnacle Bill the Barman (the fool). Purity is dealt a blow when the pub owner, Squire Trelawney, demands the six month rent arrears she owes. He doesn’t really like the Hawkins family particularly because Jim is dating his daughter Meg. What is Purity to do? Fortunately and old seadog called Billy Bones is residing at the Benbow Inn. He is a drunk and quite ill. When a mysterious stranger hands Billy the black spot, sent by “The One Legged One” Billy suffers a heart attack. Before passing away he hands Jim a treasure map. The whereabouts of Captain Flints buried Treasure. Despite calling for medical assistance in the form of Nurse Livesey Billy dies. With prospect of becoming rich and with the help of greedy Squire Trelawney Jim decides he is going to hire a boat and find the buried treasure. Off they set with Nurse Livesey as ships doctor and Meg and Purity tagging along to wave them goodbye. This leaves Barnacle Bill to run the pub. Enter Long John Silver and his nasty pirate crew Black Dog and Deafy. They too are in search of Captain Flint’s treasure map. Once they discover the map has vanished they plan to pursue Jim and the Squire to reclaim what Long John thinks is rightly his. Bill overhears Silvers plans. What can he do? Will Bill get to Jim in time to warn him? Will Long John Silver succeed in getting hold of the treasure map? How did Purity and Meg manage to get onto the boat. Who really is Ben Gunn? Will Blind Pew ever get paid for delivering the black spot. All these are questions and many more are answered in TREASURE ISLAND the pantomime!
