My notes on “Treasure Island”

By watching the full live version of Treasure Island, you can really see how much time and effort has gone into the show. Especially through things like set, costume and character portrayal.  Usually I am not too interested by theatre performances but the amount of effort they have clearly put in amazed me. You can really see why the National Theatre has such a big following because of how much they care about each show and how good the actors are. Overall I would recommend that people who are interested in theatre should watch this piece.

	Set

The set was very impressive because it was based off an 18^th century ship which is something that I have never heard of anyone else doing so it would attract more of audience because it is a highly creative concept. It was also impressive that the set could change the scene and location by just simply turning or pulling ropes. The set was dark at all times which sets a sense of mystery which was what the whole show was about and to add to this there was dramatic music to add more suspense. Although all of this makes the set good and impressive for me the best thing about the set was the stars above the ship looked so realistic as if they were actually outside in the night. Another thing I liked was that there was a lot of the places for the actors to enter and exit which made the fact that it was a ship more realistic because there would be a lot of places to move around in an actual ship.

	Character portrayal

The main character “Joe” came across smart and brave across the whole show even though she made some wrong choices she was always trying to do the right thing for her and her friends. I think she would be a crowd favourite because she is a very hopeful character and ends up being a hero when she s

saves her friends. As a character I think she would be quite hard to play because she goes through a range of emotions when trying to figure out what to do and how to save everyone. The pirate from the beginning, Bill Bones, comes across as a leader in the beginning because people seem scared of him and do whatever he says. But further in before he dies he is actually scared himself when he is hallucinating because he is vulnerable and that is probably one of the reasons he dies. Long John Silver comes across as a nice character that is very knowledgeable in the beginning but he starts to manipulate the other characters into doing what he wants and turns out to be the evilest character with the worst intentions.

	Costume

Jim’s costume looks poor which is realistic for the character because she comes from a poor family. The doctor’s costumes look posher because they have a well payed job and are wealthy so they could afford nicer clothes. The pirate’s clothes look scruffy and ruined because they have been wearing them for ages and they would not be bothered if they got their clothes dirty. The blind man who appeared half way through the show was wearing a cloak which is a typical thing for a villain to wear.