LYDIA — Tales of adventure, mischief, joy and education were some of the sights and sounds shown by the touring Hampstead Stage Company as they performed their “Treasure Island” routine in front of a room full of excited children at Iberia Parish Library branch in Lydia on Friday. 

“It’s swashbuckling pirates, amazing costumes, great acting, professionally trained actors who travel across the nation,” said Stephanie Lee, public relations and programming director for the Iberia Parish Library.

Lee said Hampstead Stage Company was here that day to entertain the children, their families, and to see the real story, not the sugar-coated version of the Disney fame.

“So it’s educational, it’s fun and it’s good for everyone,” Lee said.

The two performers for the Hampstead Stage Company, Brock Birkener and Jane Marie Erickson, who have been performing their “Treasure Island” routine for two weeks now, both called the audience and show amazing.

Birkerner said he gets more joy out of the reaction from the children than he does himself.

“I love how much they love it, and especially when they are able to interact with us,” Birkerner noted.

For Erickson, she said she loves working with young audiences because she thinks it’s important to share empathy and help them feel emotions of others.

“That’s why I love doing what I do,” Erickson said.

The  Hampstead Stage Company and their performers, according to Erickson, said they try to share classic literature through theatre. 

“So that is our main mission and we travel around the country,” Erickson said.

Erickson added that there are six different tours throughout the summer and that they go to different regions of the country that share the same stories that they are performing.

For their “Treasure Island” performance, both Erickson and Birkerner spent 45-plus minutes entertaining and exciting those in attendance. Switching from character to charter, the duo both taught the meaning of piracy from scrubbing the decks of a ship all the way to the meaning of mutiny while also bring inglaughs and happy endings to the life of a pirate. 

Erickson and Birkerner even received the help from eager children who were picked to help further the play. 

One of the participants for the play, Zoie Thibodaux, e8 years old, said she had a lot of fun.

“I thought it was amazing,” Thibodaux said. 

Thibodaux added that her favorite part was when they got to go backstage and wear the amazing pirate hats provided by both Erickson and Birkerner, adding that it’s a fun activity for kids.

Thibodaux went on to say she’d like to do it again if she could.

“It’s a good thing for summer, not to have kids bored and come to the library.”