Anyone who has tried to book a ticket for the National Theatre of Scotland’s new touring adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic 1886 adventure tale Kidnapped will have noticed it’s been selling in its droves.
Why is this? Everyone loves a good adventure yarn, of course, especially one they’re familiar with.
Yet undoubtedly, the presence of co-writer and co-director Isobel McArthur among the creative team is a big boost to the play.
McArthur has become a big name in Scottish theatre following the Olivier Award-winning West End success of her breakthrough hit Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of), which was first seen at the Tron in Glasgow.
Collaborating with that play’s musical director Michael John McCarthy as co-writer here, and Gareth Nicholls as co-director, Kidnapped crackles with the same transformative, youthful energy.
People who paid attention in English at school should know the story.
Borders lad David Balfour (Ryan J Mackay, playing the part wide-eyed and hopeful) is left orphaned and homeless when his father dies, so he sets out on a journey to Cramond on the banks of the Forth to claim a previously unknown family fortune.
Yet his mean uncle Ebeneezer has him Shanghaied by a group of sailors (or are they pirates?) and sent to America, on which trip he meets swashbuckling Jacobite Alan Breck Stewart (Malcolm Cumming), gets shipwrecked, is washed up on Mull and treks back across Scotland, encountering murder and betrayal on the way.
‘Plenty of laughs’ in retelling of classic tale
There are plenty of laughs in this retelling, with just the right amount of irreverence added to hurry the story along and a bit of political bite as David and Alan’s Whig and Jacobite leanings clash.
Yet the biggest change in this version is the transformation of their friendship into an epic romance with one another.
Anna Orton’s set design is bright and inventive, including a versatile big boulder and an impressive underwater sequence, and a high-quality supporting ensemble including Grant O’Rourke, Danielle Jam and David Rankine bring heart and humour to match McCarthy’s musical score reinterpretations of ‘80s hits by Yazoo, Big Country, Talking Heads and more.
Rating
- Kidnapped by National Theatre of Scotland – 4/5 stars
Kidnapped is at Perth Theatre until Saturday, before it tours to Newcastle and Brighton. More info and tickets at the NTS website.
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