TREASURE ISLAND Reimagined! Based on the book by Robert Louis Stevenson SYNOPSIS

Act I (50 minutes)

Ahoy, Mateys! Join Jim Hawkins, Ben Gunn, Long John Silver, and the whole crew as they tell the classic story Treasure Island in an original and exciting version debuting at Dallas Children’s Theater!

The play begins with Jim and Ben simultaneously telling their stories. Although their stories begin ten years apart, they were both deceived as young boys by the same scurvy pirate, Long John Silver.

Year: 1871 Ben Gunn needs work after being abandoned by his father. He hears about a potential job working on Captain Flint’s pirate ship. Ben is dismayed when turned down by Flint, but soon meets Long John Silver who brings Ben on board Flint’s boat as the cabin boy.

Year: 1881 Jim Hawkins and his friends are playing pirates when they are approached by an actual pirate, Billy Bones! Billy, protecting a chest he’s brought with him, tells the kids about Captain Flint’s lost treasure, the fifteen pirates who died burying it, and the pirate they need to beware of: the man with one-leg. When Jim’s mother approaches them, Billy asks for a room in the Hawkins’ inn. As she prepares his room, Billy warns Jim to look out for the one-legged man. That night, Jim has nightmares about a giant one-legged man.

Year: 1871 Ben Gunn and Long John Silver sit together on the ship, looking at the stars. Long John tells Ben about the importance of constellations and the story of how proud Orion defeated every dangerous creature the gods sent his way until the gods sent a scorpion that killed Orion. Long John tells Ben that “cunning be more dangerous than any weapon” and, giving Ben a spyglass Long John says was from his own father, asks Ben to help him watch out for scorpions. Ben is so glad to have found a friend. But, Ben’s mood quickly darkens as Flint’s ship sees a merchant ship and, after Flint and his crew are done with it, nothing but carnage remains.

Year: 1881 Another pirate, Black Dog, comes in to the inn looking for Billy Bones. After a scuffle between the two pirates, Billy tells Jim that “they know.” Later, another pirate, Blind Peu, approaches Jim and demands to be taken to Billy Bones. Blind Peu gives Billy a “black spot” (a sign that he will soon die). As Billy dies he tells Jim about a map in his chest. Jim and his mother go in to hiding, but not before Jim’s mother takes what Billy owes for his room from the chest. Pirates ransack and destroy the inn.

After Jim and his mother reveal the map to the trusted Doctor Livesey and Squire Trelawney they immediately decide to secure Captain Smollett and a ship, the Hispaniola, to track down Flint’s treasure. Jim will serve as the cabin boy. As they are preparing to depart, Jim meets the ship’s cook: a one-legged man named Long John Silver. Although Jim is wary of him, Long John soon befriends him.

Year: 1871 Flint picks fifteen men to help him bury his treasure on an island and, after Long John’s suggestion, Ben Gunn is included. But, as the men finish burying the treasure, Flint shoots them. Ben quickly realizes what is happening and escapes.

Year: 1881 Long John and Jim are looking at the stars as Long John explains the story of Orion, just as he did so many years ago to Ben. When Long John gives Jim a spyglass, Jim promises to help watch out for scorpions. The ship has almost reached its destination when, hiding in an apple barrel, Jim overhears Long John and other crew members discussing a plot to overthrow the captain and keep the treasure for themselves. Jim, just like Ben, realizes Long John is the scorpion!

Intermission (15 minutes)

Act II (40 minutes)

Year: 1881 Ben Gunn’s and Jim Hawkins’s stories soon overlap. Ben has been waiting ten years for his revenge on Flint and his crew and he discovers that the day has finally arrived. Jim informs the captain of Long John’s plan and, although Captain Smollett has told him to pretend everything’s ok, Jim has been found out by Long John after he followed the pirates onshore. They chase him on the island, but he escapes and runs right in to Ben. Ben promises to help fight against Long John in exchange for safe passage home. The duo realize that the pirates have taken control of the Hispaniola, and Captain Smollett and his crew are now in an abandoned fort on the island.

The pirates and Smollett’s crew fight at the fort as Jim takes Ben’s boat to the Hispaniola to try to take it back from the few pirates who still remain on the ship. After a scuffle, Jim kills the lone pirate onboard. Jim makes his way back to the fort and is discovered by the pirates. They want to kill Jim, but Long John saves him from certain death (even after Long John realizes his own crew wants to overthrow him). Long John shows the map to his crew and they begin to follow it to Flint’s treasure. But, as they begin the journey, unbeknownst to them Ben’s plan (that he has been perfecting for ten years) has begun: the pirates are confronted by skeletons and spooky singing that they assume is coming from ghosts. The nervous pirates continue on their journey until, relieved, they reach Flint’s treasure. But, they soon discover that all the gold is missing. Ben reveals himself and Long John sees he’s the one who’s been duped now.

Captain Smollett and his crew want to shoot Long John for his treachery, but Jim defends him because Long John saved his life earlier on the island. As the crew searches for the treasure Ben has hidden all around the audience, the infamous Long John Silver sneaks away with a bag of his own.

Notes:  This is an exciting adventure story, filled with pirates, sword fights, aerial acrobatics, different kinds of puppets, and a few good scares. The subject matter could be too intense for some patrons.  Many characters are killed during the course of the play.  The closer you sit to the stage, the more stimulating (especially visually) the play becomes. Those that want a less stimulating experience should sit farther back from the stage.  The actors approach the audience at several points during the play.  There are some noises that might be jarring to some patrons (including sword fights, screaming, laughing, etc.).  During Jim’s dream about a one-legged man, a large pirate puppet comes on stage.  A lot of action happens in the aisle between section A and B.