Dukes director Joe Sumsion is giving a rare insight into what goes on behind the scenes of the Lancaster’s venue’s Christmas show Treasure Island in his new online diary—Joe Blogs.
It’s the first time a Christmas show will be staged in The Round and it is now in rehearsal from where Joe is giving regular reports on the creative process in his blog at dukestreasureisland.tumblr.com.
It’s the first time he has blogged about his work as a show director and he gives an insight into all the preparations for producing a play which will be seen by thousands of people from November 23-January 5.
Also during week one of rehearsals, Joe took the cast on a trip to Sunderland Point, to spend time by the sea and in the location where this new version of Treasure Island begins.
The Robert Louis Stevenson classic has been adapted by TV and theatre writer, Debbie Oates... and relocated to Morecambe Bay.
The cast have also got to grips with the puppets as Joe explained: “Yesterday we worked on the scene where Long John Silver’s parrot, Flint, arrives in search of the treasure map. Ali, the actor who operates Flint, had taken the puppet away at the weekend and came back to fly the bird beautifully. It was a lovely moment.”