"Kidnapped' at People's Light

The sweep and relentless narrative momentum of Robert Louis Stevenson's novels would seem to make them naturals for adaptation to stage and screen. Six film versions of Kidnapped have been made between 1938 and 2005, none of them first-rate. Some of these adaptations have been derailed by bad casting. Others have departed from the novel entirely, as movies often do.

Fortunately, Ernie Joselovitz's stage version of Kidnapped, currently at People's Light, is a faithful and lucid version of the original, even if it's necessarily stripped down to the essentials.

In Stevenson's plot, set during Scotland's revolt of the 1740s, young David Balfour is recently orphaned and set to inherit his family's estate. Yet his vicious Uncle Ebenezer plots to get rid of David and keep everything for himself. He arranges for David to be kidnapped and put aboard a ship set for the Carolinas, where the lad will be sold into slavery.

One of the other passengers on the boat is Alan Breck, a Scottish freedom fighter wanted by the British. When David overhears the captain and crew plotting to capture Breck and turn him in, David and Breck join forces, do battle with the crew and jump ship. Eventually, they make their way back to Edinburgh, where David must claim his inheritance and settle the score with his uncle.

Director Samantha Bellomo's production moves swiftly. At 65 minutes, it's perfect for the attention spans of the "Sponge Bob" generation. Unfortunately, this reduction entails eliminating the novel's most memorable scene, in which Ebenezer sends David up a darkened staircase in the decrepit family mansion without telling him that the steps end abruptly several stories up.

Nevertheless, Joselovitz captures the essence of Stevenson's novel better than the various film versions. And the three cast members perform impeccably.

Aubie Merrylees makes a likable, tough and spunky David. Luigi Sottile's Alan suggests the dashing Errol Flynn in his Captain Blood days. And longtime People's Light company member Peter DeLaurier is a versatile wonder in 19 different roles, from Uncle Ebenezer to the ship's captain and the various folks David and Alan meet in their journey across the Highlands.

Flutist Matthew Allison is on stage much of the time, providing effective musical accompaniment. Scenic designer Meghan Jones makes ingenious use of a few benches to suggest locales ranging from the interior of a boat to the top of a mountain.