Fans of the Robin Hood saga really love the Robin Hood saga, from cartoon fox to Americanized accent with many BBC forays in between.
Forks & Hope and Strawdog Theatre Company have a new Robin Hood that is none of those things- in the most incredible way possible.
Adapted from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s The Foresters, the snappy production of Robin Hood and Maid Marian has something for all age ranges and theatrical preferences; lyrical prose for the word nerds among us, a fierce love story for the romantics, swordplay for action buffs, and enough slapstick to keep the whole family in hysterics. (Why this show, directed by Matt Pierce, isn’t performing to crowds packed with tweens and teens is beyond me- this beats the heck out of anything they’re seeing in history and drama classes.)
We’ve dug on this ensemble for a while now (my kids still reference the insanely cool The Hunting of the Snark from two summers back) and this show continues their tradition of elevating famed tales to inventive heights. The story opens with the exodus (or grand entrance, rather) of Robin and his men into Sherwood Forest to escape the villainous Prince John (played to mustache-twirling perfection by Andrew Bailes). But what’s a girl in love- and danger- to do without her paramour? Follow him into the woods, of course, and bring her lady-in-waiting…and father…and a trail of clergymen without the greatest of intentions…
No tale of robbing the rich to help the poor is worthwhile in the slightest without a stellar duo of Robin and Marian, but this show more than delivers. Caleb Probst is alternately witty and dashing, and his Maid (the lovely Kelsey Shipley) is the strongest Marian ever to wield a bow and arrow. The entire cast is terrific, especially the gender-blind casting of Sir Richard Lea (Amber Robinson) and Little John (Suzanna Ziko). In fact, there’s a marked (and welcomed) absence of damsels in distress in this utterly wonderful show- and you’d be doing your own merry band a disservice if you missed out on this one.
Photo credit: Tom McGrath
- Runs through December 29th at Strawdog Theatre Company’s Hugen Hall
- 3829 N. Broadway St, Chicago
- strawdog.org
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