SMUGGLERS, hidden treasure and ghostly apparitions – what more evocative glimpse of coastal Dorset in the 18th century. J Meade Falkner’s gothic novel was adapted for the stage in 2009 by the ever-compelling Angel Exit, and this year the company’s co-director Tamsin Fessey was invited to recreate the production with students from Arts University Bournemouth’s BA Acting class.

Right from the start, this had the distinctive Angel Exit stamp – an ensemble in disguising make-up, changing from character to character with nothing more than a coat or hat, at a speed that keeps the excitement flowing and uses the auditorium to bring the watchers into the action. Ten young actors unravel the tale of 15-year-old orphan John Trenchard, terrified by the murder of a contemporary, keen to follow in the footsteps of his friend Elzevir Block, falling in love with Grace, daughter of the dastardly Squire Maskew, but seduced by the promise of a huge diamond, hidden by the long-dead pirate Blackbeard. These seafaring stories set around the south west coast have an enduring appeal for audiences.

John and his friends have always lived at Moonfleet, where the church has a crypt holding the coffins of departed pirates, and of a ruined family. When the storm breaks and the tide comes in, the coffins rattle and crash around the crypt, and generations of parishioners take fright. But is it the coffins making the noise, or the butts of smuggled liquor hidden on holy ground and awaiting collection when the moon is full?

This ensemble piece gives each of the ten young actors a chance to shine in more than one characterisation, led through the story by Harry Clapham’s John and Sam Sherwood’s Elzevir. There were memorable moments from Ifeoluwa Aromna as granny in the church, Bella Luis as Aldobrand and Charlie Feeney’s menacing Blackbeard. This production of Moonfleet, with its soundscape of rhythmic pounding feet, shanty songs and ghostly fears, brings to life Dorset’s swashbuckling history, where lonely coves hide hidden treasure, and the historic battle between poor labourers and entitled landowners plays out in lawless tales of derring-do.

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Photographs by Jayne Jackson