Children's Theatre of Charlotte's TREASURE ISLAND Closes 3/28

Pirates, buried treasure and swordfights abound in Children's Theatre of Charlotte's "Treasure Island," coming to the McColl Family Theatre thru Mach 28. Ken Ludwig's stage adaptation captures the swashbuckling danger and excitement of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic adventure story.

Jim Hawkins is only 14, but the responsibility of running the Admiral Benbow Inn with his mother has made him wise beyond his years. When a secretive old pirate shows up at the Inn and entrusts Jim with a map pointing to buried treasure, Jim embarks on the high seas adventure of a lifetime. Surrounded by a crew of double-crossing characters, including the charming but infamous pirate Long John Silver, Jim must decide who to trust and how to make his own way if he wants to return with the treasure and his life.

First published as a book in 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island has had a vast influence on the popular perception of pirates. The one-legged pirate with a pet parrot, the map with "x" marking buried treasure and the famous "fifteen men on a dead man's chest" song, now part of pirate mythology, were all originally Stevenson's inventions.

Stevenson's novel is both an adventure yarn and a coming-of-age story, and Ludwig's script highlights Jim's growth from boy to man. This stage adaptation also focuses on the relationship between Jim and Long John Silver, who serves as both Jim's mentor and his primary antagonist. Combining honorable and treacherous qualities, Long John Silver is one of the most memorably ambiguous villains in the history of literature.

Talented student actor Isaac Josephthal, who plays young Jim Hawkins, joins a strong ensemble of professional adult actors, including Ashby Blakely, Chad Calvert, Matt Cosper, Jon Parker Douglas, James Dracy, Steven Ivey, Matthew Keffer, Nathan Rouse, David Sebren, Mark Sutton and Barbi VanSchaick. Mark Sutton, who played Jim Hawkins in Children's Theatre's 1995 production of Treasure Island, takes on the role of Long John Silver in this season's production. Treasure Island is directed by Alan Poindexter, Artistic Director at Children's Theatre of Charlotte.

Performances will be held in the McColl Family Theatre at ImaginOn, 300 East 7th Street. Front Orchestra tickets are $24.00; General Admission tickets are $18.00. For tickets to the productions, call The Children's Theatre Box Office at 704-973-2828 (10 am-5 pm, Mon.-Fri.) or visit our website: www.ctcharlotte.org. For ages 10+/ Grades 6+. The adaptation is faithful to the book and contains scenes with flintlock pistols, swordplay and blood.

Children's Theatre of Charlotte is supported, in part, with an Operating Grant from the Arts & Science Council, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Inc. and the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.

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