A hearty shanty may not be the way swashbucklers typically begin. But when it’s accompanied by a rollicking battle, like the one that launches First Folio Theatre’s family-friendly “Captain Blood,” the pairing is boffo.
It’s a splendid start for this zesty romance/adventure tale adapted by First Folio executive director David Rice from Rafael Sabatini’s 1922 novel. The dashing, dexterous Nick Sandys — whose deliciously plummy accent is always a treat — plays the fictional Peter Blood. He’s a 17th-century soldier, doctor and all-around Renaissance man who’s convicted of treason after treating insurgents injured in the Monmouth Rebellion against Britain’s King James II. Enslaved, he’s sent to Barbados where he impresses plantation heiress Arabella Bishop (a spirited, self-reliant Heather Chrisler). She purchases him over the objections of her uncle, the callous Colonel Bishop (Aaron Christensen), who takes an immediate dislike to the erudite doctor.
“Captain Blood”
The initial prickliness between Peter and Arabella — de rigueur for this type of melodrama — gives way to affection. The evidence of that comes in the form of the glib banter accompanying their skirmish with Spanish invaders, during which Arabella proves herself quite the swordswoman.
At one point she quips: “Who saves you when there are no women around?” It’s one of several pointed references to female empowerment, a message that was important to Alison C. Vesely, First Folio’s co-founder and artistic director and Rice’s wife.
Vesely, who died in November after a two-year battle with cancer, helped shepherd the script, which injects a smidgen of social commentary into this breezy buccaneer’s tale. Vesely also chose director Janice L. Blixt. As Rice acknowledged in a recent interview, “her fingerprints are all over this.” Indeed they are, particularly in the self-assured whimsy and humor that characterize the direction.
The Spanish attack on Barbados allows Peter and his fellow slaves to escape. Commandeering a ship, they recast themselves as privateers. Vowing to respect Bahigo women and share their plunder equally, they sail the Caribbean, preying on French and Spanish ships, including one captained by the Spanish admiral Don Al