Arrrr you ready? Pirate adventure takes over Persephone Theatre

Cam Fuller  •  Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Persephone Theatre embarks on an epic pirate adventure with Treasure Island.

“There’s tons of swash and barrels of buckling,” says Chip Chuipka, who plays the iconic Long John Silver.

Treasure Island is the original, timber-shivering pirate story, the one with peg legs and parrots, friendship and betrayal, sword fighting and buried treasure. Stage adaptations of Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1883 novel date back to 1947. Persephone’s adaptation is by American playwright Ken Ludwig. There’s a cast of 11, directed by Sarah Rodgers. The focal point is a huge ship built in the theatre’s own shop that sails across the stage. Due to popular demand, the run has already been extended four days. Here’s Chuipka’s inside look in a few key words.

SPECTACLE

“Oh wow, where does one start? It’s a 30-foot ship that sails around for an hour and 45 minutes. It’s quite spectacular. All the swashbuckling aboard the ship and on the island is quite breathtaking. The lighting is going to be gorgeous. Ted Roberts’ lighting is like lightning in slow motion. The costumes that Bonnie (Deakin) has designed are just gorgeous. And Nathan (Howe) is doing all the sound, so it’s a bit of a mix of live score and live foley, so the creaking of the ship and the water is all created live. It’s quite infectious. And then the flash of the sabres. There isn’t a wasted minute in it. I really like the adaptation a lot.”THE WORKDAY

“It’s just wild. The day starts with fight rehearsal, so there’s 12 or 13 people with cutlasses whirling about the stage doing their various fight phrases that they’ve learned. Then we move on to the ship which actually sails around the Persephone stage, then we’re off to the island. It’s a gas.”

THE REAL LONG JOHN SILVER

“The part is based on one of Robert Louis Stevenson’s better friends, a fellow who had lost his leg and was very outspoken and very witty and never backed down in an age when being handicapped was scorned and ridiculed. This fellow stood out as somebody that Robert Louis Stevenson admired.”

CHUIPKA’S LONG JOHN SILVER

“I think he’s in keeping with Stevenson’s intention. He’s courageous, he’s a raconteur. He admires loyalty. The pirates themselves in Long John’s crew are anything but loyal.”

SWEARING?

“There’s no swearing in the show, it’s all pirate curses, stuff like ‘jellied eel’ or ‘codfish.’ Stuff like that.”

THE PEG LEG

“It’s a good challenge. Stairs are a bit of a challenge, fight scenes are a challenge, getting on and off the boat is a challenge but the more I do it the more set it gets into my body. And it’s fun for everybody else, too, being able to laugh and ridicule me.”

LARGE CAST

“It’s so rare. The last show I did that had any kind of number to it was Angelique in Montreal about the black slave who was accused of burning down Montreal in 1734, and of course didn’t do it. I think that cast was nine. It’s so much fun to have all these different energies swirling around you making noise.”