09 Jun 2007
It’s always dangerous to have a clear idea in your mind about what you’re looking for from a cast, but I have a clear idea in my mind for TREASURE ISLAND. I am looking for a cast that look genuinely like pirates. I would like the audience to wonder where on earth we managed to find such a group of people. I have visions of Simon saying to his Mum “can we meet the actors after the show?” and Mum finding 327 reasons why they have to go home straight away. Of course finding ten men who look convincingly like pirates, who are also going to get along well with each other and be fabulous to work with, could be hard. But what I am desperately trying to avoid is the cast that look like ten actors trying to be pirates. There’s something so intriguing about the characters in the book that it would be such a shame to stage a pale imitation of the sort of men Stevenson was writing about. The hunt begins in 10 days!