Robin Hood

It was a pleasure to be invited back to another Pantomime from this enthusiastic group.  The Hall was buzzing with anticipation when we arrived, there was a stall selling Robin Hood related merchandise, which was surrounded by excited children.  There are many tales of Robin Hood most incorporating the dastardly deeds of Prince John and his henchman, The Sherriff of Nottingham, the daring deeds of our hero, Robin Hood and his men, and the love interest with Maid Marion, and this version, written by a member of the company, Rachel Reynolds, was no exception, except that some of the characters were not the expected gender.  Everyone had entered into the spirit of the Pantomime with great enthusiasm.

When the show started a fanfare announced the arrival of Alana Dale who entered in front of the tabs, introduced herself and when she started to play her instrument the tabs opened onto Nottingham Village with the villagers and Robin Hood and his men, and we had the opening number, which was full of energy.  There was a well painted backcloth and lovely trees, which stayed on for much of the show.  The in-house backcloths, and scenery were all well-made and used well, taking the story to the different locations.  The lighting was well designed and operated, giving lovely effects for the different scenes with lots of green lighting in Robin’s Den giving the effect of a secret enclosed woodland space, with a lovely fire effect under the cauldron.  The costumes were well made and appropriate to the story, with lovely animal outfits; I particularly liked the outfits for Maid Marion, The Sheriff and Alana.

It is always difficult decision who to give microphones to with such a large cast, because if some have mics the others sound very quiet, but not everyone will be able to be heard in a large Hall, there were stage mics suspended across the stage which helped.  The sound balance was mostly good with most voices heard over the music, which was provided by a well complied back tracking track.  The sound effects were well cued.

MD David Eaton and assistants had made a good choice for the music, it appealed to the wide age range of the audience, the young children next to me were singing along to much of it.  The songs had been well taught and everyone sang confidently, with lots of energy and enthusiasm in the ensemble numbers.  Many members of the cast had been given the opportunity to sing solo lines.  The choreography was well devised and executed, with the Woodland Animals, the opening number of each Act, ‘Revolting Peasants’, and the particularly enthusiastic finale.

There was good age range in the cast, which gives the opportunity for many to develop their stage skills, everyone had worked on their characterisation, with all the Merry Men and Villagers having individually defined characters.  Robin Hood, was a principal boy and was confidently acted with good singing and moving.  I was impressed with how he carried on with all the planned mayhem surrounding him near the end of the first Act.  He worked well with Maid Marion, who was spirited, and although cousin to King Richard, mixed with the lowlier folk.  Her companion Lady Ellen, supported her well and was really smitten by the Sheriff.  The Sheriff of Nottingham, was a forceful character, and obviously enjoyed the reaction he received from the audience.  By contrast Prince John, although trying to usurp his brother and be King, was a much weaker character.  They worked well together.  It was a nice twist to have Freya Tuck, who had a companion Novice Maria, with all the related lines from The Sound of Music.  Alana Dale, the Troubadour, who is continually thwarted when trying to sing her songs, engaged well with the audience encouraging them to respond.  Hoo, Watt, Wye and Know were hilarious, their timing was good and they had lots of laughs from the audience.  King Richard was a contrast to his brother and restored order to Nottingham.  The young people in the cast were well disciplined, worked hard and were obviously enjoying themselves.  The whole cast worked well together and support each other and the action.

 Director Anna Eaton, had obviously enjoyed working with her cast and they with her, and mostly they knew what was expected of them, but I did wonder a couple of times in the second Act if the big crowd scenes were a little under rehearsed.  There were some lovely ideas and the stage was well used.  There was a good chase when Robin ran away from Prince John and the Guards; there were lovely reactions from the young people along the front of the stage when Marion was singing her romantic solo; good reactions from the company to the story unfolding; a lovely moment when the animals attacked prince John and the Sheriff, and good use of the stage and the Hall.  The audience were keen to respond and join in but were not always totally sure how.  I have said to others, when you are writing a script and want audience participation, make sure they know exactly what response to give, it is almost writing a script for the audience to tell you what you want to hear.

This was a real community Pantomime with everyone involved, the audience absolutely loved it, they must do, as they keep coming back each year.  You give a great deal of pleasure to a lot of people and raise large amounts for Charity in the process.  Well done everyone, and I wish you joy and success in your 30 anniversary celebrations.

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