Robin Hood

 

 

Robin Hood – a Pantomime

Originally written by Roy Preston

Adapted and Directed by Graham Sessions

Music by Roger Leaver

Performed by Willand Theatrical Society (WITS)

On Thursday 20th February at Willand Village Hall

 

‘Robin Hood, Robin Hood riding through the glen, Robin Hood, Robin Hood with his band of men, feared by the bad, loved by the good, Robin Hood, Robin Hood, Robin Hood’. The famous theme tune from the original series of The Adventures of Robin Hood, reverberated throughout this pantomime and those of us old enough to remember it joined in with those on stage.

From the moment the curtains opened we were treated to a treat of a pantomime from WITS. Lovely intro music from the piano accompaniment, along with a well painted backdrop we are introduced to Alan-A-Dale in a green tunic/ waistcoat, green feathered hat and brown tights offering to sing us a song but is interrupted by the entrance of Robin Hood. This was a running gag throughout the pantomime and poor Alan never gets to sing to us. Alan was played by a confident actor with an expressive face, good stage presence and superb diction. Robin Hood, dressed in the classic green cross-laced tunic, green leggings, green feathered hat plus the quiver full of arrows, is portrayed strongly by this actor who sang and acted superbly well with great vocal projection. A really strong and melodic voice during ‘Do you hear the people sing’ and ‘Smile’ , both accompanied by the chorus, and both were really enjoyable.

This was a story line generally based on the classic Robin Hood tale of stealing from the rich giving to the poor, persuade by the nasty Sheriff of Nottingham and falls for Maid Marian  but with lovely added touches such as Old Maid Marian who was played by a young actor with a delightfully high falsetto voice and super characterisation. She also had fabulous costumes which I will mention later. You could tell that this actor relished being the dame.

As Robin tries to thwart being sought by the nasty Sheriff he meets up with Little John  and Friar Tuck. These two were both hilarious in different ways. Little John was laugh out loud funny as the actor played him as if completely drained of all enthusiasm or motivation being described by Robin as a  ‘dry as an old stick’. This was pure gold and the actor’s comic timing meant every line and come back was greeted with roars of laughter from the audience. Friar Tuck dressed in a long brown tunic , with a classic monk wig and quarter-staff came on too early and everyone laughed so hard as he and Robin ad-libbed their way through it . He described himself as a ‘deep fat friar’ but I would say this actor was brilliant in the role with eloquent intonation and indicative of the role. ‘The Laughing Friar’ to the tune of The Laughing Policeman produced an incredible laugh from this friar which was infectious. Another of the band was Will Scarlet, dressed in red, supporting her fellow merry men well and again was articulate with every word heard. When you think there are no personal mics used by this company but every word can be heard, that is a huge accomplishment alone.

An added character of Fey, a forest spirit who protects Robin Hood was a lovely touch and this confident actor sang a gorgeous duet with Robin. Dressed in a gorgeous gold and green dress, green ivy headdress and ivy clad staff, she looked the part too. Maid Marian was portrayed with a sweet disposition and sang ‘Think of Me’ from Phantom of the Opera stirringly. 

It would not be a pantomime without a baddy and in this one we had three. The Sheriff of Nottingham was portrayed by a good actor with such a fantastic air of malice and threat. His character mistreated everyone including his henchmen, Hangem and Flogem but I will get to them shortly. A tour de force as the Sheriff, tall and authoritative giving him a powerful stage presence and dressed creatively in a long burgundy and gold -edged tunic, black boots and sword. This was well cast indeed and at times reminded me of the wonderful late Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. That is a compliment indeed.

Hangem and Flogem were wonderful to watch too. Both dressed in grey with chainmail coif headdresses and shields, these two bumbled around the stage and worked together so well.  Hangem, with a lovely Birmingham accent, was the brains of this twosome and a super comic actor who is just a joy to watch and Flogem the idiotic one of the pair, who mindlessly followed orders was the perfect patsy.

Guy of Gisbourne who also became King Richard at the end of the pantomime was very funny when losing his horse and I loved the stage prop of a horse’ head appearing stage left.

With various stage painted backdrops and good use of projection this community pantomime looked professional. There were a number of scene changes from village to forest, to underground passages of the Sheriff’s castle which helped the production run smoothly with no awkward blackouts. Good use of front of tabs to allow the crew to change and set scenes and nice stage props with a large archery target and the Sheriff’s medieval throne.

Lighting was used to good effect especially the scenes in the wood at dusk where the blue downlights helped give a twilight effect. The dimming of the lights in the dungeon showed the actors almost in silhouette but I would have liked to seen clearer faces in that scene however it was still effectual.  I really liked the eclectic choice of well- known songs chosen and adapted by the production team. Each one suited the story and the actor singing it. The Sheriff’s ‘Got to Pick a Pocket’, ‘Drink on Me’ in the Arrow and Quiver pub, ‘Are You Going to Nottingham Fayre’ and ‘Robin All Over the World’ finale song.

An ensemble of young and adult actors supported the principals splendidly. The three young actors who played the witches tell the Sheriff of his demise should the forest of Sherwood move to Nottingham, reminiscent of Macbeth’s meeting with the hags and the warning of ‘should Birnam Wood come to Dunsinane’. A deliberate correlation I would think by the director or the writer, I know not which! Lovely acting from these three who also are villagers with their fellow chorus members. All of them sang with such enthusiasm and showed the society’s future is in safe hands.

The crowning glory of this production were the costumes, produced and sourced by Alison Harris, Sue Woodland and Rona Cooper. The exact medieval dresses and veils of the young chorus looked beautiful as did Maid Marian’s outfits of purple or green trimmed with faux Ermin and various coordinating head-dresses. The Old Maid Marian had a gorgeous pink/orange/yellow flowery dress and a headdress of flowers when she first entered and I especially loved the blue dress with Ermin, blue wig and green ribbons but the finale dress with Madonna shaped cone corset with green wig was priceless.  Every cast member looked incredible on stage and I have to massively congratulate the costume team.

A huge well done to everyone involved. This was undoubtedly a well-rehearsed cast who thoroughly enjoyed entertaining their audience with a witty and expertly directed pantomime. I am always so grateful for the warm welcome I received from Mike, Steve, David and David and feel it is a privilege to be your representative.

Lyn Burgoyne Noda Representative District 5 9 Mid and East Devon)

 

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