My Treasure Island!!!

Caitlin Driscoll and Gemma James-Smith in My Adventure Island!!!

Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, written in 1883, is a tale rife with adventure and intrigue on the high seas. The literary classic has been referenced countless times in pop culture, and serves as the inspiration for Sara Levine's My Treasure Island!!!, a novel about a hapless college graduate whose enchantment with Stevenson’s tale leads her to re-evaluate her life.

My Treasure Island!!! has been adapted for the stage in a new play by Karen Woolridge and is now on stage at Theatre Passe Muraille’s Backspace. A complicated, entertaining two-woman production, My Treasure Island!!! is carried by Caitlin Driscoll, who plays the main character simply credited as “Our Girl." Right from the start, it is clear that Our Girl is sassy and smart, as she details her experiences following her time at college, working several low-paying jobs and eventually splitting up from her boyfriend and moving out of the home they share. As she speaks candidly about her experiences, a copy of Treasure Island is held firmly in her hand, and she references it constantly in relation to her own life, incorporating the novel's core values: Boldness, Resolution, Independence and Horn Blowing.

On stage with Our Girl is an unlikely castmate: a green parrot named Little Richard (played by puppeteer Gemma James-Smith) who adds in hilarious small noises and words during Driscoll’s colourful monologue. Driscoll’s talent is very clear in the first few minutes of the production, as she is essentially on stage alone, using only voices and gestures to convey a series of events that have taken place in her life, such as her doomed job at the Pet Library, her relationship with her best friend, and her eventual move back in with her parents after being kicked out by her boyfriend.

The first half of the performance is hilariously engaging and unique, but begins to lose its appeal once it reaches the climax. The second half of My Treasure Island!!! involves a heated argument between Our Girl and her sister (also played by puppeteer James-Smith). Watching this argument is both confusing and frustrating, as it does not quite match up with the production’s first half, which is a cheery, funny one-woman performance. Not enough time is given to the development of the sisters, so their argument is difficult to follow and truly care about, since the audience does not know them or understand their respective backgrounds.

Although the second half of the performance is disappointing, My Treasure Island!!! is generally an enjoyable production with Driscoll shining throughout.

My Treasure Island!!! runs until November 16 at the Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace. Visit passemuraille.ca for more information and to buy tickets.