Bursting with robust utterances of "Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum", and equally robust references to "Dirty, treacherous dogs", this is a new Birmingham Stage Company production of R.L.Stevenson's classic tale of pirates and buried treasure. The atmosphere is set as you enter the theatre, with wailing seagulls (a most unusual sound in Milton Keynes) seeming to circle the auditorium, courtesy of a stereophonic soundtrack. On stage, a realistic schooner is ready for departure - Jackie Trousdale's most effective design features a mast made of rope, which will later spin itself out into a ready-made island tree.

The schooner duly sets off on its voyage, with Captain Smollett (Nigel Harris) complaining, in a port-sozzled voice, that he doesn't like the look of his crew. Up on deck, ship's cook Long John Silver - complete, of course, with a parrot on his shoulder - is engaged in a fine rendition of We're Bound for the Rio Grande. Although Birmingham Stage is a small-scale company, all the principal characters are present on board, courtesy of some judicious doubling, and there's plenty of gutsy commitment, particularly in the fight scenes.

But the small-scale nature of the production (director Greg Banks) does pose some problems. Perhaps to try to counter the cavernous auditorium, the cast resorts to shouting, but this doesn't result in all the words being audible. Nonetheless, John Cockerill establishes himself very well as Jim Hawkins, the wide-eyed, innocent lad who will do a great of growing up as events unfold. Gavin Robertson's Long John Silver isn't so effective, and the ambiguous morality of his character doesn't really come over. My favourite moment occurred when Ben Gunn (Christopher Llewellyn) emerged from under a disused landing stage to enquire of the treasure-hungry pirates: "Do you by any chance have a piece of cheese about you?"

Until tomorrow. Tickets 0870 060 6652 (www.miltonkeynestheatre.com).o