Treasure Island

On February 11th, I saw Treasure Island at Texas State University. Treasure Island is a comedic, pirate show written by Jules Ekhert Goodman and Andy Park was the director of Treasure Island. In the show, there were a total of 18 very talented actors who were very good about making each of their characters their own. The show was a fun, action packed show that taught about discrimination, trust, and teamwork. 

The show was about a young girl named Jim Hawkins, who was always looked down upon for being a girl. She had a big dream of fulfilling her grandfather's treasure map that she and her grandmother found to see where it led too. However, there was one problem. Long John Silver and his pirate crew want the treasure on Treasure Island as much as Jim and her crew does. They all fight to get to the treasure first. In the end, Jim Hawkins remains victorious and gets more respect from her crew for being a leader even as a young girl.

Overall, I thought the acting in the show was phenomenal. The biggest takeaway I had with it was that each character had a certain vocal habit and gesture that they brought with their character. For example, Captain Smollett’s voice was always changed in pitch. His voice didn’t have a straight tone to it. At times it was pitched up higher and at times it was pitched down lower depending on what he was talking about. I thought that that was a very specific detail that the actor chose for his character. 

The design was absolutely stunning. I loved each transition to different locations as a stage combat and aerobatic performance. In Act 2 when Israel Hands, a member of Long John Silver’s crew, blows himself up, the lighting is dim enough and hits at a point that gives off the illusion that there was debris when the bombs blew up. The costumes I thought fit each character’s personality very nicely. The sound effects felt extremely real because they were very loud, exotic sounds like the bomb going off. 

Overall, I thought this show was a very clever and stunning performance. I loved how engaging the entire cast was during the show. The choreography, stage combat and the aerobatics implemented in the show. I think it made those transitions from scene to scene more interesting to watch and to keep the audience engaged in what is happening. I also thought it set up the action and energy of the scene very well. This show is definitely one of my favorite shows that I saw at Texas State University.