Robin Hood The Pantomime

After all the fun and excitement of the festive period, it’s always nice to have something to look forward to in the New Year and for me it was the relatively short drive from Stone to Shawbury in Shropshire to see the Village Players in their latest annual pantomime ‘Robin Hood’. Written by Callum Jinks, who also starred in the panto as The Sheriff of Nottingham, there was something quite unique and homely about this production. Staged in the delightful village hall, my guess is that most of the cast were drawn from this relatively small and close-knit community which made the pantomime even more special for everyone watching.

Much to the delight of the townsfolk (and audience) Robin Hood has finally returned to Nottingham following a few months overseas helping King Richard with his crusades and after hearing that Prince John has been putting up the taxes again while he’s been away, there is clearly much robbing of the rich to give to the poor to be done! Of course, the Sheriff of Nottingham is the same old conniving tyrant, Prince John, is just as greedy and arrogant as ever and Maid Marian, the Prince’s spirited niece, is still hugely loyal to Robin so at least there’s the prospect of a happy ending.

Following the prologue, perfectly delivered in rhyme by the charming Lola Baker as Sherry, the Fairy of Sherwood Forest, the main house tabs opened to reveal a spectacular scene of Nottingham Town Square, set against a colourful backdrop and with a wonderful upbeat opening chorus of the Fleetwood Mac classic ‘Don’t Stop’ which got the show off to a rip-roaring start performed by the townsfolk. And now it was time to meet some of them …

As the Town Cryer, Josh Rawlinson-Smith’s announcements were very well delivered. The ‘rub-a-dub-dubbers’ – The Butcher (Eva Durie), The Baker (Imogen Caldwell) and The Candlestick Maker (Lauren Boulds) – were bright and cheerful and, of course, you can’t have a story about Robin Hood without mention of his loyal band of merry men. Will Scarlett (Alivia Thomas), Alan-a-Dale (Ffion Owen), Much The Millers Son (Heidi Maddocks), Little John (Jennie Dunn) and Friar Tuck (Lisa Palmer) all gave credible performances. I also thought that it was a clever move to introduce the 2nd Shawbury Cub Scouts into the story to provide some additional opportunities for local youngsters to ‘tread the boards’ in some of the supporting roles. It’s so important to nurture these bright young talents. They are, after all, our stars of the future.

So back to the story and having now been introduced to the colourful village folk and greatly enjoyed their tales and gossip, it was time for Mother Hood’s first solo spot. As the pantomime dame, Paul Mason-Fellows had the audience in absolute stitches with his (her) corny jokes and comic tales of life in Sherwood Forest, three failed marriages and her various vocations. “My first job was in a bank” she told us “… but I got fired after a woman asked me to check her balance, so I pushed her over!“ She also selected a male member of the audience to ‘frame’ so that every time she came onto the stage she could shout out “hello” and blow kisses at him - it was Phil’s turn tonight - and he had to shout back “Hello Gorgeous” which led to some hilarious moments.

Unaware that Robin was back in town and already challenging the Prince’s greed, Maid Marian, superbly portrayed by Emily Jones, rounded off the first scene by reinforcing her  allegiance to her hero and his merry men with a very bold statement and the most fabulous rendition of Bon Jovi’s ‘It’s My Life’.

The next scene was our first visit to the legendary Sherwood Forest where we met the delightful 2nd Shawbury Cub Scouts led by Joe Leppington as Baloo, Lee Thomas as Bagheera and Meg Williams as Rikki Tikki Tavi. Clearly lost and not able to find where they were on the map, it wasn’t long before they were frightened off by the arrival of the Sheriff and his two stooges - well played by Will Shields and Erin Gailey as Guy and Gal of Gisbourne - looking for Prince John’s horse, ‘Biscuit’. It was also the Sheriff’s first confrontation with Robin (Tyler Smith) since his arrival back in Nottingham and the perfect opportunity for a wind-up as to Biscuit’s whereabouts which provided plenty of scope for our first helping of “he’s behind you!” Clearly rattled by Robin’s tomfoolery, The Sheriff let off steam with a rousing chorus of ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’ which I felt was a bit of an odd choice for him but well performed just the same.

Now back in Sherwood Forest, this time at the merry men’s hideout, the cub scouts proudly marched on – Abbie (Harriet Thorpe), Billy (Jack Pearce), Casey (Erica Jordan), Danny (Jack Thomas) and Eddie (Tommy Leppington). They had somehow managed to lose their leaders but after a spot of banter and words of comfort from Fairy Sherry, she was able to cast a spell and send them off in the right direction just as Mother Hood arrived looking for Maid Marian. Having summoned the merry men to help her, we were treated to a side-splitting rendition of School of Rock’s ‘Stick It To The Man’ with some vibrant moves much to the ongoing delight of the audience.

Song over, it was time to meet our hero Robin again and not very long before he was reunited with his beloved Maid Marian with their comical hand-slapping, leg kicking and unique personal greeting, before both bursting out into fits of laughter and exiting happily arm in arm.

Meanwhile, Prince John (Violet Leary) is not happy after hearing about Robin’s return to Nottingham and has asked the Sheriff to come up with a plan to lure him out into the open from his forest hideout and capture him. So the plans were quickly drawn up for an archery competition with a £1000 prize for the winner which was the perfect bait to attract Robin but, of course, masquerading as Sir Robert Hall, Robin was one step ahead of the Sheriff and easily saw off the other two competitors, Guy of Gisbourne and Will Scarlett, disguised as Mr Billy Crimson. In true panto style, the contest ended in chaos with a chase around the village hall before a riotous on-stage chorus of ‘Hit Me With Your Best Shot’!

With Marian now imprisoned in the Nottingham Dungeons, Baloo and Bagheera sneaked their way in followed by Guy leading Mother Hood and Marian with Gal following up the rear to lock them in a cell. This turned into a very cleverly staged spooky encounter with some particularly ghostly skeletons and lots of boos, hisses and shouts of “they’re behind you” from a delighted audience. It didn’t take long for the ‘goodies’ to break free and return to Nottingham Town Square for a jubilant welcome and stirring rendition of ‘We Built This City’.

And the rest, as they say, is history. King Richard (Josh Rawlinson-Smith) returns from his crusades to the cheers and delight of the townsfolk. The Sheriff is straightaway sacked and Prince John is belittled and made to grovel and apologise to Robin. And as for our hero, he and Marian are appointed Co-Sheriffs of Nottingham. And what pantomime would be complete without a sing-along led by Baloo and Bagheera with the traditional audience competition between those sitting on either side of the centre aisle.

We had all enjoyed an evening of traditional family entertainment. Alongside the principal characters, the supporting cast, especially the youngsters, performed with great energy and enthusiasm and were very clearly enjoying every minute of being on stage. The sets, the costumes, the lighting and sound were also of a very good standard although there were just a few times I found it difficult to hear some of the dialogue, but I was sitting on the back row and this didn’t detract in any way from my enjoyment.

And my final comments must go to Director, Grace Jackson for her skill and vision in turning Callum’s script into such an entertaining production, to Callum himself as producer and as an exceptionally good ‘baddy’ and to Lisa Palmer as assistant producer.

Thank you for inviting me to share the enjoyment of your annual pantomime. It was very cold and icy outside, but you gave me a very warm welcome and I’m now looking forward to visiting you again in May for ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’.

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