TREASURE Island is a cracking adventure, a dramatic seafaring quest for buried treasure.

Featuring some of the most vividly imagined and celebrated characters in literature, it's a fantastic nautical yarn of buccaneering and buried gold with plenty of yo-ho-hos and bottles of rum.

Treasure Island is this year's much awaited outdoor walkabout production staged by The Dukes theatre within the picturesque surroundings of Lancaster's Williamson Park.

Running until August 12, the award-winning team behind The Dukes 2016 sell-out production of The Hobbit are giving Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel a new theatrical twist.

Written by esteemed Coronation Street scriptwriter Debbie Oates, it has all the hallmarks of another hugely successful summer spectacular for The Dukes, the UK’s biggest walkabout theatre season that has attracted more than 500,000 people since it began in 1987.

In Debbie's version of Treasure Island, Jem Hawkins is a girl with a plan to escape her troubles, travel the world and make a new life for herself.

The problem is that she’s actually chosen the wrong crew: an opinionated parrot, a bunch of pirate buffoons and the terrifying Long John Silver watch over her every move.

The audience will join Jem’s search for treasure through Williamson Park's winding paths and entrancing woodlands, navigating their way from one fantastic location to another.

Making sure everything is ship-shape will be Joe Sumsion returning to the theatre's director's chair especially for the production.

"Treasure Island is a fantastic story and our version will offer an amazing journey for a child - in fact, for anyone - to go on," says Joe.

"I think people love the idea of adventure on the high seas and, for us, theatrically, there’s lots of exciting potential.”

Designed by Barney George, Treasure Island will be the eighth park show Joe has directed for The Dukes. His previous outdoor productions are The Hobbit, Oliver Twist, Hansel and Gretel And More Tales From The Forest, Robin Hood, Merlin And The Legend Of King Arthur, Jason and The Argonauts and Beauty and The Beast.

Joe worked on The Dukes 1991 outdoor production of Treasure Island as an assistant stage manager. Also appearing in that show as a pirate was a young Cherylee Houston who is now a Coronation Street regular where she plays Izzy Armstrong. She is also an honorary patron of The Dukes.

Assistant director for Treasure Island 2017 is Natalie Morrell, best known as one of half of the highly innovative Kendal-based physical theatre company The Knotted Project, alongside Simon McElligott.

Natalie and Simon have built a reputation as one of the most exciting young theatre companies in the region, known for their innovative use of mime, poetry, music, and exciting dance and drama. Their skills have seen them perform at venues across the region, including Mintfest.

Writer Debbie has been penning Coronation Street scripts for 15 years. She originally adapted the story for a Dukes Christmas show in 2012 and adapted A Christmas Carol for the theatre in 2013. She also adapted Oliver Twist for The Dukes 2015 park show and premiered her new play The Ockerbys on Ice at The Dukes last autumn.

Playing Jem is Natasha Davidson who made her Lancaster debut in the 2015 Christmas show, Beauty and The Beast.

In the guise of Long John Silver is Jake Norton, who makes his first Dukes appearance in Treasure Island.

The ocean-going motley crew also includes Victoria Brazier, Gareth Cassidy, Niall Costigan, Amy Drake and Chris Jack.

Treasure Island will be Gareth’s fourth Dukes outdoor production. He played Bilbo Baggins in last year’s version of The Hobbit, which won the 2016 UK Theatre Award for Best Production for Children and Young People.

Victoria Brazier is also a familiar face to Dukes audiences; her first foray into the park was in the 2015 production of Oliver Twist where she played Nancy. She has also appeared in Beauty and The Beast.

Chris makes his return to The Dukes outdoor theatre season eight years after he played the lead role in Jason and The Argonauts. He has also appeared in Of Mice and Men at the theatre.

Like Jake, Niall and Amy will be making their Dukes debuts.

Get ready to raise that Jolly Roger, me hearties...

Performances start at 7.15pm.

For tickets and further information telephone The Dukes box office on 01524-598500 or visit www.dukes-lancaster.org.