We recently took our four young children to watch an open air performance of Robin Hood in Salisbury. We did not have any great expectations. After all, the stories of Robin Hood are very well known and have been performed over and over again on television and in films. We found our space on the grass in front of a plain stage and waited, with one collective eye on the increasingly large clouds gathering overhead.
Within five minutes of the start, all thoughts about taking cover from the elements were dissipated. There were only five players, each taking on multiple roles seamlessly, with such irrepressible energy, humour and warmth that my cynicism was completely melted. Many of the well known Robin Hood adventures were recreated, including the duel with Little John over the stream, but in such a way that they seemed new. One aspect that helped was the rhyming couplet language used by the players which enlivened the action and made the audience feel as though it was watching Shakespearean actors telling the story back in the middle ages. There was one particularly funny repeated sketch showing Prince John using ever more grotesque instruments to torture the hapless Sheriff of Nottingham for failing to capture Robin Hood. To convey this in such a humorous way (the villain performed a rap entitled “Don't Do This At Home” whilst accompanied by the remaining three actors humming) that made children howl with laughter required consummate skill and timing. There were some well staged fight scenes, and of course, an archery competition. The poignant demise of Robin Hood at the hand of a treacherous Prioress (as told in the Roger Llancyoln Green edition of the legends from the early twentieth century) was faithfully re-enacted, and made the whole story more rounded – of lives lived fully and unsentimentally. The beginning and end of the play was framed with some haunting unaccompanied singing from the entire company.
There was an immediacy about the production which also raised a question – why would anyone really wish to steal from the rich to give to the poor without taking anything for themselves? This is a higher justice than that of the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Whilst the second half was probably 10 – 15 minutes too long, overall this was a wonderfully invigorating piece of theatre that children aged 2 – 80 enjoyed – a juxtaposition of humour and tragedy, finally reconciled somehow into a celebration of life.
UK Tour Dates: http://www.illyria.uk.com/subpage1.html