It’s proper nonsense physical comedy – slapstick, tomfoolery and chaos.
Physical comedy theatre company Le Navet Bete are bringing their reimagining of Treasure Island to the Royal & Derngate this May.
Known for their madcap comedy and fearless physical theatre, the award-winning troupe takes Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale and flips it on its head, blending slapstick, clowning and the irreverent humour of The Young Ones, Blackadder and Father Ted.
I caught up with Nick Bunt, co-artistic director of Le Navet Bete, to find out what lies in store for audiences in their high-seas escapade.
Shiver me timbers.
Q: Can you give us a little spoiler about what we can expect on stage?
A: It’s proper nonsense physical comedy—slapstick, tomfoolery, and chaos. Four actors, multi-rolling, performing a high-intensity adventure story of Treasure Island over two hours, packed with shenanigans.
Q: What character do you play?
A: I play Jim Hawkins, the protagonist of the story—a 14-year-old boy, which admittedly gets harder to play the older I get.
Q: How tall are you?
A: I’m 5’8″.
Q: I thought you were smaller. You look quite petit in photos.
A: Yeah, and I can still just get away with playing Jim Hawkins!
Q: It seems you get off lightly playing just one character, Jim Hawkins – the other three actors play multiple characters. Is that right?
A: Even though there‘s only four actors on stage, they play forty or fifty characters – around ten characters apiece.
We have to make them all very different physically and vocally so the audience gets the illusion there’s a much bigger cast.
We’ve also added our own character twists—like a mermaid who wasn’t in the original book and a fish finger tycoon who captains our ship, and even a parrot named Alexa straight from the Amazon.
Q: A fish finger tycoon? That sounds intriguing…
A: Yes, he’s our ship’s captain—completely ridiculous but totally in keeping with our style.
Q: I imagine backstage must be mayhem?
A: Oh, absolutely. Sometimes it’s more chaotic back there than on stage. Fortunately, we have an amazing stage manager, Fi Russell, who also designed the set and keeps our costumes and props organised.
Q: For those who may not be familiar, can you define physical comedy theatre?
A: Physical comedy is all about using the whole body for comedy—movement, facial expressions, vocal delivery, and dialogue. It draws inspiration from slapstick legends like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. We use the term ‘clowning,’ but not in a circus way—more in a character-driven way.
Q: What inspires your comic influences.
A: Our theatre company was founded by three of us: Al Dunn, Matt Freeman and myself. We all met at university on a fantastic physical theatre and clowning module on a degree course at the University of Plymouth. We grew up watching TV shows such as Fawlty Towers, Monty Python, Blackadder, The Young Ones, French and Saunders, and Father Ted. Our work is shaped by those influences combined with a love for physical theatre.
When we graduated, and formed the company, we thought ‘let’s base the company on that style of work and take all of those influences’. The company evolved over the next 15 years.
Q: Are there many other physical comedy theatre companies like yours?
A: Not many at our scale. Most are producer-led, while we do everything ourselves—writing, performing, producing. Mischief Theatre (of The Play That Goes Wrong) is sometimes compared to us, but our style is different.
Q: What drew you to adapt Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale, Treasure Island?
A: We chose this classic tale because it was a familiar tale, and we knew it offered a wealth of material that we could put our own comic spin on. The characters and story offer us huge potential as performers to create a loud and colourful world with fun, chaos, adventure and of course humour.
We were drawn to the innocence of Jim Hawkins, the story’s 14-year-old protagonist, with his dreams of adventure and ambitions much bigger than his surroundings of the Admiral Benbow, the pub his runs with his horrible Aunt Agnes.
Q: Being a physical theatre company, you must have had some mishaps. What’s been the dumbest injury you’ve had?
A: In fact recently, whilst we were at the Salisbury theatre. At the end of the first half, I had to leap off from a prop. As I do this, in mid air there is a blackout. Normally the lights go on and I’ve disappeared. Except this time, the lights went out, I was totally disorientated as to where I was, where the exit was and where the wings were. I couldn’t see a thing – it was pitch black. I stepped off stage and ended up in a heap on the floor. When the house lights came up, I was still there scrambling to try and get back on stage. The audience kind of laughed but also aaaahed in a sympathetic way, being not quite sure if it was supposed to happen or not. Fortunately I wasn’t hurt, but my pride was a bit knocked!
Q: You tour all over the UK and internationally. Do you have fans who follow you?
A: Yes, which is amazing! Some travel across the country to see us, especially for our Exeter Northcott Theatre panto. It’s really humbling.
Q: How does the set design work with all these transformations?
A: Our designer, Fi Russell, is a genius. The set morphs from a pub (The Admiral Benbow) into a ship, then an island, and back. It’s all done with clever staging. Our aim is to transport you to a different world and then to allow you to fill in the gaps with your imagination.
Q: How does music and sound contribute to the show?
A: We have an incredible composer, Peter Coyte, who creates immersive soundscapes and music that elevate the action. The show features a fantastic pirate-inspired soundtrack, setting the tone right from the opening scene with one of my favorite pieces of music. There are also some really fun songs throughout the show—Long John Silver has a standout number aboard the pirate ship, performed with two other pirates. Expect sea shanties, dynamic background music, and a score that brings the adventure to life.
Q: You’re coming to the Royal & Derngate soon- who is the show aimed at?
A: There is literally something for everyone in it; mum, grandad grandma, the kids. I love seeing a multi-generational audience all laughing together. Whether you are 104 or 4,
come along and escape the outside world for a couple of hours and be transported to a world of, well, lunacy really!
Catch Le Navet Bete’s Treasure Island at the Royal & Derngate on May 2nd and 3rd, and get ready for a riotous, rollicking adventure!
Visit https://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/whats-on/treasure-island/ to book tickets.