Robin Hood Review

The scene was set before the play began with a cleverly designed programme in the form of a wanted poster for Robin Hood. To give the students a real experience of intimate theatre, the playing area was on the floor and the audience were around on three sides. This had the effect of drawing the audience into the story and made it easier to hear all the dialogue spoken.

The students dealt really well with this wordy script and Mila Naftel as Will and Sophia Mason as Much in particular brought out the humour in the text.

Amelia Evans played a very sly Guy and Anna Taylor was excellent as the scheming Sheriff of Nottingham. Yassin Corea as a constantly eating Bishop completed the baddie trio.

There were a range of other drama skills on show which included a number of choreographed swordfights and even stick fighting featuring George Frank as Little John.

Eloise Russell played a feisty Maid Marion and the company gave two students the chance to play Robin Hood, one in each half. Gracie Elliott and Rosa Lovell both rose to the challenge and each brought their own interpretation to the part and worked nicely with Eloise while also dealing well with the amount of script and all the many challenging physical requirements.

Marshall Dean really stood out as King John and must be commended on the clarity of diction and projection brought to this part.

The hard working stage crew were accompanied by some well chosen medieval versions of modern songs (such as Billie Eilish’s Bad Guy) which allowed a connection with the younger cast and audience to be made. This was a great idea and worked really well. Costumes provided by Lynda Clarkson were just right for the time period and the attention to detail such as the hair for Guy was noticeable.

Directors Lucy Appleton and Amy Campbell have obviously put some long hours into this show and I particularly liked the use of the central wall as a back drop for each scene and the way that lots of different entrances and exits were in use throughout the play which assisted in keeping the pace up.

This theatre school likes to keep challenging itself with the productions that they produce and I look forward to their upcoming shows later in the year.