Treasure Island is a swashbuckling tale of adventure, intrigue, pirates, conspiracies, treasure and drama on the high seas. This new play at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, which stars Keith Allen as the notorious Long John Silver, has been adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel by Ken Ludwig.

In Treasure Island, young Jim Hawkins finds himself in the possession of a map showing the location of the fabled lost treasure of Captain Flint, a booty that many a pirate had tried to claim for himself. Setting sail to find it with a crew of gentlemen and hired scoundrels, including suspicious peg-legged cook Long John Silver, none of the crew know the adventures and perils that lie before them. Some will make it back alive, some will not.

Allen’s rum-swilling, parrot-shouldering, yo-ho-ho-ing return to London theatre in the cast of Treasure Island comes hot on the heels of playing another of literature’s classic blackguards, the Sheriff of Nottingham, a role he took in the recent BBC Saturday evening series of Robin Hood. His other London stage credits include a trio of Pinter pieces – The Room, The Celebration (both Almeida) and The Homecoming (National Theatre) – while his films include Trainspotting, Shallow Grave and 24 Hour Party People.

Treasure Island, which features a live band on the Theatre Royal Haymarket stage, is directed by Sean Holmes, who has had recent success with Moonlight And Magnolias at the Tricycle and The Entertainer at the Old Vic.