Irish actor Keith Dunphy is taking up the challenge of playing a number of characters, including Ben Gunn and Blind Pew, in the Rose Theatre’s new production of Treasure Island. He spoke to Will Gore ahead of Friday’s first performance.

Will Gore: What can we expect from Treasure Island? Keith Dunphy: It is a real adventure and the great thing about it is we are also celebrating the space of the theatre because it is beautiful – it is quite an open staging and there are lots of masts and ropes and steering wheels. The whole theatre is going to be transformed into a pirate ship!

WG: Karen Louise Hebden, the shows adaptor, has spent plenty of time in the rehearsal room – has it been helpful having her on the spot? KD: It’s fantastic for actors to have the writer in the room. She has been very hands-on and that has been a joy for us because when we find bits we are struggling to make sense of she is there to do some rejigging.

WG: How well did you know the book before starting rehearsals? KD: I’d read the book many years ago as a young Irish man at home in Waterford City. I’m from a seafaring family myself, my Dad was trawlerman. When I accepted the job I went back over the book – it was really good to read the descriptions of the characters I’m playing.

WG: The main character you play is Ben Gunn – explain your approach to the character KD: He was one of the original member's of Flint’s crew who gets marooned on the island. I’m taking a very physical approach and celebrating my own Irishness – Karen informs me that a lot of Irish men were pirates at Stevenson’s time. There is lots of chance for comedy and all the stops will be pulled out in my performance.

WG: You also get to play a number of other characters, including Blind Pew. Do you enjoy the challenge of playing more than one character? KD: It’s wonderful to use different voices and physicality to create different characters. That is the great thing about doubling up. You really have to get on board with the characters and celebrate them – there is so much room to bring the kids on a crazy journey. It is a joy for the audience to watch because they get a chance to really watch an actor at work.

WG: It must be fun to be part of a pirate crew? KD: It’s exciting to work with lots of robust pirates. It’s all lads together in the cast and you can imagine the atmosphere in the rehearsal room – it’s quite laddy, shall we say. We have to use our bodies and be very physical. It was hard times for these pirates and, apart from being a load of drunks, they were salt of the earth, hard men.

WG: How do you stop your pirates from ‘yo-ho-hoing’ into cliché? KD: We approach it in a simple way – it may sound strange but we don’t think of the characters as pirates, we think them as real people. You have to have a certain level of commitment to the characters but we are not doing Chekhov. All the lads create very real characters.

WG: And have the cast been getting into character off stage as far as the drinking is concerned? KD: Maybe one or two pints have been drunk – I like to go to the Druid’s Head and have a pint of Guiness to remind me of home.

Treasure Island, Rose Theatre, Kingston, December 11 –January 9, for more information and to book tickets, visit rosetheatrekingston.org