Treasure Island at the Lyceum Edinburgh

Scottish playwright Duncan McClean incorporates lots of local references in this mad mash-up loosely based on Robert Louis Stevenson's classic adventure.

Bristol, where cabin boy Jim Hawkins sets sail to find buried treasure, becomes the thriving port of Leith, and his destination is not somewhere tropical but the Orkney Isles.

Set on a stage cluttered with ropes and pulleys and ladders standing in for everything from houses to mountains, this quirky production opens with the cast playing on musical bells before the action turns to the Admiral Benbow Home for Reformed Pirates.

Jim's mum is out for the day and to keep the former pirates' minds of swashbuckling and treasure hunting, he tells them the story of Treasure Island, which quickly turns into real time with Jim and his cohorts setting sail on the Hispaniola owned by the half-witted Laird of Leith.

Though the sparse set and props require the use of our imagination, I found it easy to enter the madcap world of this band of adventurers, led by Jade Chan as the gutsy Jim and Amy Conachan as the double-crossing Lean Jean Silver.

Every member of the small, incredibly hard-working cast gives a stand-out performance, from Itxaso Moreno's manic Billy Bones to Tim Dalling's eccentric Ben Gunn and TJ Holmes' flaky Laird.

As if they aren't busy enough acting, most of the cast also double up as musicians, playing a variety of music composed by Tim Dalling.

If you want the traditional version of RLS's Treasure Island, this is not for you, but if you are prepared to go along with McClean's wild and creative imagination, this playful production may be just the thing to get your kids hooked on theatre.

Image: Jess Shurte

Treasure Island is at the Lyceum Edinburgh until Jan 4

lyceum.org.uk