December 6, 2024
Theatre Review: Robin Hood, The Egg Theatre Bath
Squabbling teenage outlaws, a pocket sized King Richard and no sign of a tree in Sherwood Forest. There is no harm in deconstructing the various versions of the legend of Robin Hood since there is no accepted single version. The Egg’s Robin Hood is a refreshing new take on the story of the outlaw of Sherwood Forest and his band of merry men who steal from the rich and give to the poor. And why not? Sam Liu is a disarmingly frightened and hesitant Robin who has run away from an abusive father while the outlaws are a gang of teenage rebels fed up with the evil Sheriff of Nottingham and his taxes and his off-with-their-heads law and order policies.
An industrial set of scaffolding, platforms and high wires, gave height and elevation for the action which the cast used effectively in April Dalton’s stage design. So no trees or greenery bar some autumnal leaves but we did get a sort of mother of the forest in Harriett O’Grady’s original portrayal of Marian who was the real hero of this version since she smoothed over arguments between chip-on-his-shoulder John (Little John) played by an excellent Tom Mackean and Robin who initially didn’t fit into the teen gang of the forest. Much (the Miller’s son) was given more depth as the band’s soulful heart by an impressive Ellian Showering whose singing, comedy and doubling up gave an added dimension to the play.
Dan Wheeler as the Sheriff dressed as a dandy Wild West law enforcer had the best role as part pantomime villain, part foppish bully and part affected boulevardier. He seized the audience’s attention as they booed his plans to execute Robin or imprison anyone who he didn’t like. Or should I say Robin-in-a-Hood as the Sheriff called the titular character – the Sheriff being an amalgam of the Sheriff of Nottingham and King John who governed while King Richard was on the crusades in the Middle East.
Dan Wheeler certainly had stage presence, but he was upstaged by Momoko Mackey as King Richard with her golden clothes, gleaming crown, neat dance moves and dramatic entrance. She also had a fan club in her fellow Widcombe Junior School pupils who cheered her every word. And by and large the packed Egg audience of largely school parties was engaged throughout – especially when the cast interacted with them – whether it was disposing of sacks of cash, answering requests to borrow money from the Sheriff or clapping along with the songs.
Its strengths were in making the merry men rebel teenagers in order to identify with a younger audience plus there was some superb acapella singing and best of all the fight scenes. These looked real and enjoyably violent – excellent work from fight director Maisie Carter – particularly the fight between Robin and John. And there was much physical theatre which produced much of the comedy.
But not all of Robin’s arrows hit their target. Gone was the archery contest, Friar Tuck and Alan-a-Dale, and the romance of Robin and Maid Marian. Written by Daniel Bye and directed by Jennifer Jackson the Egg Christmas Show makes some creative and original departures from the accepted elements of the legend but needed a bit more of the romance of the story. At times the drama was too shouty, too stompy and too preachy. And there was no show stopping number, with rather too much howling in a finale that felt something of an anti-climax.
Harry Mottram
The play runs from November 29 to 11 January 2025.
Tickets and information at https://www.theatreroyal.org.uk/events/robin-hood/
The show runs for two hours including a 20-minute interval.
This review was for the matinee on December 5th, 2024
The role of King Richard is shared between Tomos Burt and Momoko Mackey
Children’s Theatre Magazine is an online publication edited by Harry Mottram for his own interest
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Email:harryfmottram@gmail.com
Website:www.harrymottram.co.uk
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