ROBIN OF SHERWOOD: adapted Longford, Theatre Royal Nottingham till 2 August
Nottingham
ROBIN OF SHERWOOD: adapted Longford.
Theatre Royal: Tkts 0115 989 5555 www.royalcentre-nottingham.co.uk.
Runs: 2h 45m: one interval: till 2nd August.
Performance times: 7.00pm, (matinees 2.00pm Weds and Thurs, 2.30pm Sats). No performance Sun and Mon.
Open day Sat, 26 July from 10am.
LIP and AD perfomances 2.30pm Sat 2nd August.
Review: Alan Geary: 23 July 2008.
PC and over-pantomimic but highly enjoyable.
There’s not a lot of Lincoln Green on display in this production. Adapted and directed by David Longford, it’s more a matter of Hyson Green (for non-Nottinghamians, a district of Nottingham): there are very localised and contemporary references, which sit awkwardly alongside the other elements in the play. The propaganda department of the City Council takes it in the neck.
We get a rough-hewn Robin (George Nesbitt) - his dad’s a rustic rather that a minor aristocrat. With his Notts accent and a beard, he manages to be a bit woodland camp and doesn’t leap out as an obvious leader of men. He’s not especially pro-active: when he does take the initiative things tend to go awry, as they do at the end of this, actually, dark story.
The Sheriff (TV’s Peter Duncan, the undoubted star of the show), with his nicely horrid rants and tendency to talk with his mouth full, is a panto villain.
Longford’s adaptation offers an engaging and plausible background to the legend. The outlaws are actually a ragbag of outcasts, which explains why Maid Marion (Kristy Guest) is an albino, but doesn’t excuse that giant blonde wig.
It’s PC: what with the Crusades and so on it gets dangerously near to making a comment about Iraq. And the outcasts are Merrie Persons rather than Merrie Men; even Friar Tuck (Barbara Wisbey) is a woman. Her contribution, incidentally, is incongruously over-pantomimic.
This isn’t a musical - the nearest we get to that genre is an enjoyable number by Susannah Rutter, as Blondel, the King’s minstrel. But the four-piece OPUS make a splendid musical contribution, especially with their folksy fiddling background sounds.
The ensemble scenes are handled well by a huge cast and some back projection of often stunning outdoor photography is used successfully.
There are some clunking anachronisms in the text (lunchtime?) and the play is a little over-long but it’s highly enjoyable.
Nan: Mavis Moore.
Boy: Frazer Meakin/Richard Nathan.
Will Scarlett: Willie Morrison.
Much, the Miller’s Son: Graham Watts.
Robin Hood: George Nesbitt.
Martin Hood: Ade Andrews.
Marion: Kristy Guest.
Drunken Soldier: Tom Newbold.
Sheriff of Nottingham: Peter Duncan.
Guy of Gisbourne: Chris Reed.
Prison Guard: Carl Merriman.
Abbess of Kirkleigh: Sue Morgan.
Prince John: Jason Wrightam.
Sheriff’s Servant: Emma Vickery.
A Traveller: Robbie Robb.
Friar Tuck: Barbara Wisbey.
Little John: Tony Gibbons.
Town Crier: Martin Olley.
Archery Judge: Chris Teasdale.
Blondel: Susannah Rutter.
Four Nuns: Hazel Monaghan, Madison Wales, Rosald Payne, Ellie Henshaw.
King Richard the Lionheart: Dale Buckland.
Prioress: Dallas Dean.
Young Man: Jack Lamb.
Understudies: Jason Wrightam, Gordon Cullen.
Outcasts/Soldiers/Nottingham Citizens: Maggie Burrows, Deborah Porter-Walker, Katie Aungles, Madge Spencer, Danial Hall, Ashley Howe, Stephen May, Jamie Selfridge, Andrew Swannell, Samuel Ward and members of the cast.
Director: David Longford.
Designer: Lindsey Bradford.
Lighting Designer: Michael Donoghue.
Music composed and performed: OPUS.
Fight Choreographer: Ade Andrews.
Austrian Banner: Martina Radze.
2008-07-25 19:37:06