ollowing up our successful run of The Terrible Tragedy of Peter Pan and King Lear, Queens Shakespeare and What Dreams May Co are pleased to present Larry Blamire’s Robin Hood. Join us for a summer of shield maidens, sheriffs, princes and a prince among thieves…Oh and did we mention swords. Lots and lots of swords.

Director Christina Sheehan’s fantasy inspired design transports audiences to an England at war with itself, gallivanting through a Sherwood Forest that serves as the dual playground battlefield where Robin and his Merry Men defy tyranny. This sprawling, action-packed retelling of the Robin Hood story gives us characters that challenge and reinvent the myth including a Maid Marian with a sword who can do her own saving, a female Little John who is as quick witted as she is quick with her quarterstaff, and several other cross-gendered casting scenarios which elevate the stakes of both the conflict and the comedy in a script by Larry Blamire that walks the line between The Adventures of Robin Hood and Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Together these characters will stand against the power of King John and the Sheriff of Nottingham.

Through this lens we will explore what it means to “fight cruelty where you find it”, that “Even the smallest light shines in the darkness.”, and that those who “can stand up, will stand up.” “We’re not one, we’re many. When heroes stand together…work together, not a power in all of England can stop us.”

The story of Robin Hood is one that will always be relevant, which may be why it has endured so long and inspired so many adaptations: from more serious films like the Russell Crowe version, to Men in Tights. Larry Blamire’s Robin Hood, directed by Christina Sheehan at the John DeSotelle Acting Studio, is more in the vein of the latter, though it has its serious moments, too – just not many of them. In a (very) intimate setting (as in Allie-a-Dale may tell you knock-knock jokes during intermission), this production features a host of energetic players acting out the Robin Hood story yet again in an aesthetic that combines the medieval and modern worlds. At times, this approach works beautifully. At others, it flounders a bit. But above all, this is a fun and quirky (if not 100% successful) retelling of the legend of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. As Robin, Jonathan Emerson pulls off a character who’s heroic but a bit scruffy (and far from humble). He delivers a good rousing speech to the Merry Men (most of whom are actually women), and his romantic scenes with Maid Marian succeed in being cute and tender. Ellie Gossage is adorably quirky as Will Scarlet, Robin’s right-hand (wo)man. …Read more