Review of Strawdog Theatre's Robin Hood and Maid Marian

Once upon a time I went to a show and it was called Robin Hood and Maid Marian. It was based on The Foresters by Alfred, Lord Tennyson and adapted by Forks and Hope. It was directed by Matt Pierce. It was about a man named Robin Hood (Caleb Probst) and he was in love with a woman called Maid Marian (Kelsey Shipley). But on his thirtieth birthday he was banished to the forest by Prince John (Andrew Bailes). Maid Marian's problem is that her father (Amber Robinson) is going to lose his land because he can't repay the money he owes the Abbot (Addison Heimann). So then her and her dad run away to the woods to wait for the return of King Richard (Stuart Ritter) and of course she runs into her one true love. Robin Hood is in the woods stealing from the rich and giving to the poor with his band of Merry Men: Much (David Fink), Will Scarlet (Austin Oie), Friar Tuck (Lee Russell), and Little John (Suzanne Ziko). I really liked this show. I thought it was really fun. It had great fights (by Sam Hubbard) and I thought the music (by Oie) was really cool and I was really into the story.

Little John makes a big fuss over very little things in his relationship with Kate (Kaitlyn Majoy), like who kisses who first when it really doesn't matter as long as you kiss. Kate makes a big fuss about Little John almost killing Maid Marian on accident, but that makes much more sense. I liked how Little John was played by a woman because I had never seen that before and it kind of changed up the story and made it a little more "now" because women can get married to each other now. It also made Little John seem like less of a sexist and made him look more like he was just dumb about relationships. So you started to enjoy him more and how funny he was instead of being like, "Oh my god." I liked how it was a discovery moment when Robin Hood kisses Kate and I had forgotten Kate and Little John's agreement that if he saw her kissing another man that they could get back together. And I didn't take it in for a second, and then I realized their agreement and I was very happy.

I really liked the Old Woman scene. Robin Hood went to this Old Woman's (Emilie Modaff) house and he asked to use her clothes so he could disguise himself because Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham (Christian Stokes) were coming. And Robin Hood's rendition of the old woman was so hilarious I almost died. And when they came in, the Old Woman would scream at the top of her lungs from behind the sound booth and scare the crap out of everyone, and it was so hilarious. And when they discover that Robin Hood disguised as the Old Woman had a bow and arrow on "her" back and can shoot as well as a tie-fighter, they realize that it is Robin Hood and then they go into an awesome, really action-packed battle. All the animals (like the birds they shoot at in this scene) are played by people. The birds wore penguin hats (costumes by Raquel Adorno), and later one of them wore an eyepatch. (You'll have to figure out why on your own. Go see the show.) I thought the animals were hilarious.

Robin Hood and Maid Marian are a really cute couple. They seemed to really love each other. There are so many obstacles in their way, but love overcomes them all. I liked that Maid Marian was super sweet and generous and kind and smart, but she was also a total badass. And Robin Hood takes from the rich and gives to the poor, has an awesome group of friends, is a really good shot, and loves to party, and he is also a total badass. I also really loved their performances. They were both very witty and clever. I also loved the music that they danced to together when they danced at his birthday party. I would have loved to have gone to that birthday party.

People who would like this show are people who like stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, screaming old women, and birds with eyepatches. I think that people should definitely go see this show. It was my favorite Forks and Hope show so far. I really loved it.

Photos: Tom McGrath