The National Theatre of Scotland presents
Kidnapped, Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic adventure novella is touring Scotland and Northern England in a riotous new retelling in 2023.
Co-created by Isobel McArthur and Michael John McCarthy, writer and musical supervisor of the Olivier award-winning Pride & Prejudice (sort of), Kidnapped is packed full of 20th century pop music and 18th century romance performed by a dynamic ensemble of actor-musicians.
“I don’t believe it……I finally have a chance at a decent future – and my only surviving relative pays to have me knocked unconscious and forced onto a knackered old boat by a load of bloody… Pirates!”
19-year-old Davie Balfour has never left home, never been kissed and never fired a gun. Armed with nothing but a hand-drawn map, he heads off on an adventure like no other. The production follows Davie on a journey of eye-opening discovery as he navigates murderous foes, Jacobite outlaws and the most inept crew of pirates this side of the Atlantic.
This version of Kidnapped reframes the relationship between the central characters Davie Balfour and Alan Breck Stewart as a romance, played out through their adventures across the Lowlands and Highlands of a Scotland still reeling from the aftermath of the 1745 Jacobite rebellion.
The music – performed live – is arranged by Michael John McCarthy and will include well-loved songs including denim-clad Americana, late 90s love songs, art rock, protest anthems, 80s synth-pop, Gaelic folk song and more.