Where would a pirate go to see a play?

To an amphitheat aaarrr, of course.

Actors’ Theatre will launch its 29th free summer season with a rollicking pirate adventure.

Treasure Island, opening tonight at Schiller Park in German Village, was adapted by KenLudwig from the 1883 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson.

“It’s an adaptation of a classic piece of literature, and it has pirates,” director John S. Kuhnsaid. “Who could ask for more?

“Ludwig did a great job of condensing the action. The sweep and scale of the story is comparableto Shakespeare’s history plays.

“And Long John Silver is one of the great all-time villains . He’s bigger than life, with a Falstaffian zest for laughter – who also does some noblethings.”

Though best-known on Broadway for his farces ( Lend Me a Tenor, Moon Over Buffalo), Ludwig has had success in regional theater with adaptations of19th-century classics.

A case in point: The Three Musketeers, which broke attendance records last year for Actors’ Theatre.

“That was one of our most popular and successful productions ever,” Kuhn said, “but Treasure Island has an even more forceful coming-of-age story.

“Ludwig’s adaptation has many of the same elements: romance, adventure, comedy, sword fights andswashbuckling characters.”

At the emotional core is the relationship between the pirate and young Jim Hawkins.

“You see the coming-of-age of this kid – influenced by this incredibly charming dude who’s alsokind of a bad guy,” said Tim Browning, who plays Long John.

Emi Sigrist, 18, portrays Jim.

“Jim starts out at 14 as a very naive, very young boy,” the actress said. “But when pirates cometo town, he goes off to sea and has all these adventures. By the end of the play, he’s become aman.”

Sigrist, 18, is making her Actors’ Theatre debut after seeing many works in Schiller Park.

“I had so many fond memories of seeing my first plays there at 6 or 7,” she said, “and Irealized that Jim Hawkins might be a great fit for me.”

The senior at Upper Arlington High School had previously played a tomboy, as a member of theJets in West Side Story – but not a male role.

“I don’t try to act boyish,” she said. “I just stay away from more girlish behavior.

“Jim is … going through a change – and I am also, as I’m graduating from high school andgetting ready to go to college.”

Her biggest challenge, she said, involves shaping his growth to manhood.

“In the course of two hours, he goes from a hyper-energetic young boy to a more solemn characterwho has killed. A lot of anger and sadness come out.”

Browning, 44, hailed his co-star.

“Emi brings tremendous charm, great energy and courage to this challenging part of someone whogoes from boy to man.”

His biggest challenge, meanwhile, is physical: walking with a peg leg.

He has learned how to use a “contraption” – basically a table leg attached to a harness, withhis left leg bent and bound.

“I have to put my knee in this thing and walk with a crutch,” he said. “I also have to fightwith this on while carrying a parrot around in the cage.”

A veteran of the first Actors’ Theatre production, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in 1982, Browning has returned in recent years to performShakespeare – including the title role in Macbeth and Kent in King Lear.

“I love working in the park,” he said, “and I go back every chance I get.”

Browning briefly doubles as Jim’s father but appears mostly as Long John Silver, who almostturns into a substitute father for Jim.

“It’s fun to play a pirate,” he said. “But I don’t think about Long John’s pirate-ness.

“Otherwise, you end up with a stereotype: ‘ Aaarrr!’”

mgrossberg@dispatch.com

Swashbuckling classic set for outdoor stage