Jayde Adams will make her professional stage acting debut in Treasure Island

Exclusive: Jayde Adams will make her professional stage acting debut in Treasure Island: A New Musical Adventure at Bristol Old Vic this Christmas.

Adams, who grew up in Bristol and first took part in Bristol Old Vic Young Company, will play Benita Gunn and Jim Hawkins’ mother in the new musical version of Robert Louis Stevenson’s tale.

The production is created by Jake Brunger and Pippa Cleary, the team behind The Great British Bake Off Musical and The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole The Musical.

It will be directed by Paul Foster, whose previous work includes The Cabinet Minister at Menier Chocolate Factory and White Christmas at Sheffield Crucible.

Adams is known for her work as a comedian and actor, with credits including Alma’s Not Normal and Ruby Speaking. She has also appeared in Good Omens, The Outlaws and the Take That musical film The Greatest Days.

She said today that the Bristol Old Vic casting comes after “years of banging on their doors” and that she “couldn’t be prouder that my debut is happening at a theatre I’ve loved my whole life. I’ve been staring at that building since I could walk, and now I get to perform in it this Christmas.”

With regards to her professional debut, Adams confessed that “stand-up always felt like a stepping stone to my real goal: acting on stage. And now I’m in Treasure Island – give me a parrot and a pirate ship too? All my Christmases have come at once!”

Treasure Island: A New Musical Adventure runs at Bristol Old Vic from 4 December 2025 to 10 January 2026, with press night on 10 December. Further casting and creative team will be announced later this summer.