Treasure Island (Prince Street Players' Version)
Show Essentials
13
Roles
+ Ensemble
U
Rated
2
Acts

Full Synopsis

Act One

Tom Morgan, First Mate on the schooner Hispaniola, has just completed writing about his recent adventure to Treasure Island. He begins to tell the tale and is joined by a chorus of Pirates. The prize that was being sought out was a treasure full of Pieces of Eight, which are old Spanish silver coins. The pirates and Tom tell us of the great value of this treasure, and what lengths people would go to for such a fortune. ("Pieces of Eight")

Tom continues to narrate as he crosses toward the Admiral Benbow Inn near the docks in Bristol, England. Tom has spent many leaves there and is friends with the owners, the Hawkins. They have a young son, Jim, who Tom is very fond of. Billy Bones, a man who has been staying at the inn for two months now, is sitting there, drunk on rum, singing an old sailing song. Mrs. Hawkins, the innkeepers wife, and her son, Jim, are there locking up for the night. Jim tries to help Bones to his room. Bones starts on about the men who want to give him the Black Spot and thinks that he sees a man with one leg. Jim does not understand him and gets him upstairs. Tom knocks outside and Meg, an assistant at the inn, lets him in. They are all happy to see him and they inform him of the sad news that Mr. Hawkins passed away a month prior. Jim tells Tom how he dreams of being out to sea. Tom encourages him, proud of his aspirations. ("Away to Sea") Tom and Mrs. Hawkins retire for the night and Jim and Meg finish closing up as another knock is heard at the door. It is Mr. Pew, a large, menacing, blind man with a stick and a black cloak. He tells Jim that he is there to see Billy Bones. Jim tries to stall him but Bones appears saying it is one of the men he had told Jim about. Pew says that they have been looking for Bones for two years and that he has something they want, and with that he goes to shake Bones' hand and slips a piece of paper into it. Pew cackles with laughter and exits. Meg screams and runs for Mrs. Hawkins and Tom-Bones holds up the paper which has a black spot on it. He calls it the Black Spot of Doom and tells them that once you get the black spot, your life is over-you don't stand a chance. ("The Black Spot")

Bones sends Jim to his room to fetch his sea chest. Tom suddenly recognizes Bones as having been one of Captain Flint's buccaneers. Bones opens the chest and pulls out a map. He explains that he was First Mate to Captain Flint who was the blood thirstiest buccaneer to ever sail. He had plundered and looted French and Spanish ships. He then buried all the treasure on Skeleton Island, a remote island in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Caracas. This map he has shows exactly where the treasure is! Flint had given him the map when he died and the others have been hunting him ever since. He gives the map to Jim and tells him to find the treasure which will make him rich! He says it is his thank you for the kindness Jim and Mrs. Hawkins have shown him. This is the only map except, for a copy he made, which does not show where the treasure is hidden. He leaves this copy in the chest as Pew and his henchmen burst in with guns and knives. They kill Bones and take the fake map.

The next morning Tom tells his captain, Captain Smollett, about the treasure, and brings him to meet Jim and his mother. Smollett asks if Jim wants to sail with him to find the treasure and they can all share it. Mrs. Hawkins insists that her son may not go out to sea. Jim pleads with her saying that now that his father is dead they could use the fortune-they could close the inn and not have to work anymore. His mother tells him there is nothing wrong with working and that it is better than searching for a hidden treasure on an island. ("Where Your Treasure Lies") Eventually, Mrs. Hawkins gives her consent with one condition. She is going to disguise Meg as a boy and send her along to keep an eye on Jim.

Two days later, Mrs. Hawkins brings Jim and Meg, who is now disguised as Sam to the ship and bids them farewell. The women are all there saying goodbye to the sailors as they pull away from the dock. The men on the ship show Sam and Jim the ropes and teach them their songs and dances. ("Bosun's Pipe Down, Sailing Scene, Sea Chanteys, Jimmy-Jim-Jim") Jim is introduced to the whole crew, most notably the new cook who they call Barbecue, though his real name is Long John Silver. He enters carrying a parrot and has a wooden peg for a leg. As soon as Jim meets him he is suspicious, remembering Bones talking about a man with one leg. Jim sits with him as Long John tells him all about himself. ("Long John Silver")

Over the first part of the journey Long John befriends Jim. Jim adjusts well, but Sam does not, which has a few people suspicious. As they reach the Caribbean there is a brief conversation between Long John and Johnson, one of the men on the crew. Long John asks Johnson how his "fishing" is going and he says that he has three more crew joining them. Johnson asks Long John how he is doing getting information out of the boy, and he responds that he is not getting much. Sam is working as the Captain's personal cabin boy. The Captain comes out to take a bath and have Sam scrub his back, which throws Sam into a real frenzy. Long John comments on how afraid Sam is of the Captain, and then the men all sing about how tight a ship he runs. ("Ship Shape")

The night before the ship reaches the island, most of the men have turned in. Jim goes to get himself an apple and has to climb in the barrel to get it. While he does this, the men, including Long John and Johnson, convene and discuss their plans for mutiny. Jim, unseen by them, overhears the entire meeting. They have 11 men recruited for this plan. Long John had sent the men to get the map and kill Bones, and he knows the map they have is a fake. He is not sure if Tom or Jim has the real one. The final plan is to let the men go find the treasure, follow them, take over and leave them on the island. The ship approaches the island and Long John makes one last try to get information out of Jim. Jim goes and informs Tom, the Captain, and the rest of the crew of the plans he has heard.

Act Two

The men are on the island hunting for the treasure. ("Run Jim Run") The Captains knows of the plan and instructs the men to continue as if they know nothing. He leaves Jim and Sam with weapons at a guard point. They hear some unfamiliar sounds and set out to find where they are coming from. ("What Ever It Is") Ben Gunn appears, and tells the boys he was marooned and has been on the island without talking to another living soul for three years. He tells the boys he had been with Long John Silver three years ago hunting for the treasure that they knew was there. He had fallen into a cave and broke his leg and Long John, having only one leg, could not help. He promised Gunn he would return but never did. He tells the boys about all the things he has missed, especially his favorite food, cheese. ("Cheese Cheese")

They hear a canon fire and realize the mutiny has begun. Gunn offers to take them to his cave to hide. Sam wants to go, but Jim insists he go down and fight. Frustrated and scared for his life, Meg reveals to Gunn that she is a woman, and is there to care for Jim. Gunn says he will take them to his cave where he has a boat he made himself. He says that after nightfall they will row out and recapture the ship themselves and take it to a hidden cove he knows. The mutineers are hunting down the boys, but unsuccessfully. The battle begins and carries on through the night. The Captain, Tom, and their men are successful in fighting off the mutineers. Gunn, Jim, and Meg successfully recapture the ship and anchor it in the cove. Jim wants to go back and find the Captain and Tom and let them know what has happened, but Jim gets lost on his way and decides to wait until morning to continue. He is scared and alone and regrets his decision to take this voyage. ("Jim's Soliloquy") Suddenly Long John and his men find and surround Jim and get the map from him. They take him with them to go find the treasure.

The next morning, Gunn and the Captain and his men have met up. Gunn went to look for Jim, worrying he would be lost in the fog, and left Meg in the cave. They realize that Jim has been captured and that Long John must therefore have the map too. They try and remember where the map showed the treasure was hidden, and realize that this spot is the exact place. As they realize this, Long John and his men appear with Jim tied up. Jim has lied to them and said he sent the ship adrift. The men want to kill Jim but Long John won't allow it. They get together for a meeting wanting to try and overthrow Long John, while Long John tries to form an alliance with Jim to save himself, which Jim agrees to. Long John convinces the men that Jim was lying and that they need to keep him as a hostage. Long John tries to set him free, but Jim will not go. Since he made a deal with Long John, he insists he stay as a "hostage."

The men find the treasure chest and open it to only find rocks, bones and the skull of Flint, no fortune at all. As this happens, Gunn, from within the cave, begins calling out, then appears dressed as a ghost...the ghost of Flint. All the men run away in fear except for Long John who is holding on to Jim. Gunn throws off his disguise and reveals himself to Long John. The Captain, Meg, Tom, Jim, and the rest are all reunited. Gunn reveals that the treasure is actually in the cave and the map was another decoy. Long John left Gunn in the cave to die, but if he would have come back he would have discovered the treasure.

The group all goes back to the boat. The Captain arrests and chains up Long John and leaves his men on the island. They sail to Savannah to get a new crew. The morning they leave back for Bristol they discover that both a few sacks of silver and Long John were missing. They suspect Jim set him free, although they never confirm this. They arrive back in Bristol where Mrs. Hawkins greets them. Meg appears on the gangway with Gunn, her new husband. Jim assures his mother that he has had enough of the sea. He bids goodbye to his crew and leaves with his mother, happy to be home and now rich.

Casting
← Back to Treasure Island (TYA Collection)
Cast Size: Medium (11 to 20 performers)
Cast Type: Ensemble Cast
Dance Requirements: Standard

Character Breakdown

Tom Morgan
First Mate of the schooner Hispaniola and the narrator of our story. Friendly and jolly, he holds a fondness for Jim.
Gender: male
Age: 35 to 55
Vocal range top: E4
Vocal range bottom: G2
Billy Bones
A former pirate and common customer at Mrs. Hawkins' inn. Seems to always be very drunk and is leery of everything around him.
Gender: male
Age: 40 to 65
Vocal range top: A3
Vocal range bottom: A2
Mrs. Hawkins
Proprietress of the Admiral Benbow Inn and Jim's mother. Extremely matronly to her family, workers, and the pirates that frequent her inn. She tries to encourage Jim to find the treasure using his brain.
Gender: female
Age: 40 to 60
Vocal range top: F#5
Vocal range bottom: A3
Jim Hawkins
Mrs. Hawkins' teenage son, he dreams of a life on the sea. Joins the Hispaniola's crew by gaining possession of a treasure map. Wide-eyed and a bit gullible.
Gender: male
Age: 14 to 18
Vocal range top: F4
Vocal range bottom: G2
Meg
A snarky barmaid at the Inn with attitude towards life at sea. Mrs. Hawkins forces her to disguise herself as a man to watch over Jim on the Hispaniola, which puts her in several clumsy and uncomfortable situations.
Gender: female
Age: 18 to 25
Vocal range top: D5
Vocal range bottom: B3
Pew
A menacing blind conspirator who gives Billy Bones the Black Spot. He is tricky and ruthless.
Gender: male
Age: 30 to 60
Captain Alexander Smollett
Master of the Hispaniola. Commanding and firm, he ensures that everything is always "ship shape."
Gender: male
Age: 35 to 55
Vocal range top: E4
Vocal range bottom: C3
Israel Hands
The Coxswain of the Hispaniola and one of Long John's mutinous cohorts. Impatient and wary with an affinity for drinking.
Gender: male
Age: 25 to 55
Vocal range top: G3
Vocal range bottom: B2
George Merry
The Hispaniola's Navigator and one of Long John's mutinous cohorts. Greedy and selfish.
Gender: male
Age: 25 to 55
Vocal range top: B4
Vocal range bottom: C3
Job Anderson
The Boatswain of the Hispaniola. One of Long John's mutineers, he tries to turn the other men against him and Jim.
Gender: male
Age: 20 to 30
Vocal range top: E4
Vocal range bottom: C3
Dick Johnson
The Hispaniola's Senior Deck Hand. An old friend of Long John, he schemes with him to get treasure.
Gender: male
Age: 25 to 55
Vocal range top: E4
Vocal range bottom: C3
Long John Silver (barbecue)
The peg-leg cook. He befriends Jim, but their friendship falls in conflict with his plotting to mutiny and get the buried treasure on Skeleton Island. Wise, experienced, and brave.
Gender: male
Age: 40 to 60
Vocal range top: F4
Vocal range bottom: B2
Ben Gunn
A former pirate, marooned on the island by Long John and his men on a previous voyage. Wild-looking and longing for luxuries of his former life.
Gender: male
Age: 25 to 45
Vocal range top: Gb4
Vocal range bottom: Bb2
Ensemble
Sailors And Pirates; Hornpipe Dancers; Acrobatic Specialistis; Wives And Sweethearts
Full Song List
Treasure Island (TYA Collection): Pieces of Eight
Treasure Island (TYA Collection): Away To Sea
Treasure Island (TYA Collection): Where Your Treasure Lies
Treasure Island (TYA Collection): Away To Sea (Reprise)
Treasure Island (TYA Collection): Treasure, Chant & Jimmy Jim
Treasure Island (TYA Collection): Long John Silver
Treasure Island (TYA Collection): Ship Shape
Treasure Island (TYA Collection): Whatever It Is
Treasure Island (TYA Collection): Cheese! Cheese!
Treasure Island (TYA Collection): Jim's Soliloquy
Treasure Island (TYA Collection): Lucky Man
Treasure Island (TYA Collection): Finale & Bows

Show History

Founded in 1965 by Jim Eiler, The Prince Street Players, Ltd. began a new era in Family Theatre. Starting in a loft on Prince Street in New York Cityas a repertory company and then expanding rapidly to include several touring companies playing East Coast "Stock" theatres and schools, the reputationquickly spread and Prince Street Players became a leading name in quality Family Theatre on Broadway and Network Television.

That reputation has been upheld for over thirty years as the Company performed to great acclaim both nationally and internationally. Although no longertouring, the Eleven Musical Shows are being performed worldwide. Scripts and scores are available to be leased for performance by schools and theatresthrough Music Theatre International. Each script sent out by MTI includes production notes, costume & set sketches and a wealth of information tohelp each presenter produce a polished theatre event. These musicals are designed to be performed by adults or young adults for family audiences, andare considered by many to be "simply the best around".

Billing

Freely adapted from the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson

Requirements

Under the terms and conditions of your organisation’s Performance Agreement, the following credits must appear on all advertising (including websites) relating to the production. Credits must be reproduced faithfully in accordance with the following layout. No alterations or deletions can be permitted unless stated below.
Percentages listed indicate required type size in relation to title size.
 
THE PRINCE STREET PLAYERS LTD
Production of
TREASURE ISLAND
A Musical Adventure
Freely adapted from the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson
 
 
Book and Lyrics by
Jim Eiler
Music by
Jim Eiler & Jeanne Bargy
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The videotaping or other video or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited.

Included Materials

ItemQuantity Included
LIBRETTO/VOCAL BOOK20
PIANO CONDUCTOR'S SCORE2

Production Resources

Resource
HOW DOES THE SHOW GO ON-10/CS
HOW DOES THE SHOW GO ON?
LOGO PACK
LOGO PACK DIGITAL
REFERENCE RECORDING