Action Packs Spirited ‘Treasure Island’

As you take your seat at the Little Burbank Theatre, the old-fashioned nautical riggings hanging overhead and the rough-hewn mast on the small stage are hints that a seafaring adventure is in store for audiences attending the Serendipity Theatre Company’s modest but lively production of “Treasure Island.”

While some performances are more dimensional than others and things get off to a less than coherent start, this spirited adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic gathers momentum to become an action-packed treat.

Director Stewart Skelton, who wrote the adaptation with admirable respect for the story and its language, pulls the audience in too slowly at first, as the show opens with a light shining from an open chest on the darkened stage and angry voices are heard making references to “the black spot,” murder and something hidden that must be found.

Since the dialogue isn’t loud enough to be entirely decipherable, this too-lengthy prelude, heard but not seen, is less than absorbing. And when young Jim Hawkins (Tommy Sobel) appears, hiding from irate pirates searching for a treasure map, the scene is a jumble of noise and movement.

The tale picks up, however, after Jim, Squire Trelawney (Denys Gawronski) and Dr. Livesy (Scott Ratner) set sail to find the late Cap’n Flint’s treasure themselves, hiring Long John Silver (Bill Gamble) as ship’s cook.

Plenty of action ensues when cabin boy Jim discovers that among the crew are pirates intent on murder and mutiny, led by Silver.

The choreographed fights, with knives, swords, muskets and pistols much in evidence, and Jim’s heroics in the middle of it all as he thwarts the pirates and saves the ship, are hugely popular with young audience members. Sobel, the only child in the cast, rushes his lines, but plays his derring-do with enjoyable panache.

Gamble is a standout among the capable seven-member adult cast, giving a colorful, assured performance as the ingratiating, greedy and murderous Silver. Sarah Lilly, a fine choice for the ship’s upstanding Capt. Smollet, is another. Lilly’s authoritative, well-spoken stage presence makes her entirely believable in the male role.

The crusty pirates--Chandler Bootchk, Doug Burch and Joe Labritz, who play several roles between them--are sufficiently blood-thirsty and Burch tickles funny bones as the addlepated, marooned sailor, Ben Gunn.

This show isn’t for very young children; ages 7 and up will appreciate it most fully.

* “Treasure Island,” Little Burbank Theatre, George Izay Park, 1110 W. Clark St., Saturdays at 1 p.m.; Sundays at 1 and 4 p.m. through Feb. 9. Tickets: $14 per adult; $8 per child age 17 and under. (818) 557-0505, Ext. 2. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes.

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In Tune: If music strikes the right note for a family outing, don’t miss Red Grammer in concert. The award-winning performer will perform his folk-style, parent- and child-savvy songs on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Caltech’s Beckman Auditorium in Pasadena. Tickets are $5 and $9 and may be purchased at the Caltech Ticket Office at 332 S. Michigan Ave., or from Ticketmaster at (213) 365-3500.