A HUGE, mysterious, ship is about to loom over a Peebles stage.

The Hispaniola is just one of the extraordinary special effects in the stunning National Theatre production of Robert Louis Stevenson’s pirate story Treasure Island to be screened at the Eastgate Theatre on Thursday, January 22, at 7pm. The ship emerges from a stage flanked by huge wooden ribs that look like the bows of a wreck or even the inside of a body then, as the mighty deck is winched up, a beehive of cabins appears underneath. Later the same space becomes a huge dripping cathedral of underground caves. This new version of Treasure Island transforms the classic boys-own tale into big, playful, gothic production with women wearing the breeches, even heroic cabin-boy Jim has become a cabin-girl. Jim Hawkins is played by Patsy Ferran, Angela de Castro is a the clumsy Brazilian coxswain Israel Hands and Helena Lymbery makes Dr Livesey a serious-faced force to be reckoned with. “Be you boy or be you girl?” “That be my business.” While Long John Silver has more than a passing resemblance to Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow, his new shipmate Grey is a doleful pirate so colourless that no one ever recognises him. Expect mud, laughs, surprises and some very scary tattoos. Treasure Island is being screened from the National Theatre, London. It is recommended for everyone over 10 years old.

Tickets are available on 01721 72577 or www.eastgatearts.com