Review: ROBIN HOOD: THE LEGEND. RE-WRITTEN, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre

It’s the obvious legend to draw upon in our current age of police brutality, austerity, and the withdrawal of the right to protest - and when you have a stage surrounded by an almost-forest, it should be the perfect fit.

This summer at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, Carl Grose turns his attention to the retelling of Robin Hood, promising a hero unlike those you’ll have previously seen on the small and silver screen.

The trouble is, this seems to have been the premise for most adaptations over the past decade or so. It also poses the significant problem of making sure the audience sheds its previous knowledge of the story, whilst establishing a new version in fairly quick time.

In this production, the catalyst for action against the Sheriff and his increasingly draconian rule is the grief of Bob Much (the miller) and his daughter Woodnut. The death of his wife Jenny hits him so badly that he is unable to raise the necessary funds to go towards his taxes, so he decides to take the punishment and encourages his daughter to escape into the forest; when she gets there, she tries to conjure up woodland spirits to help rescue her father, but instead runs into outlaws Mary Tuck and Little Joan. They agree to help her, but in the end the group requires additional assistance from the mysterious Hood…

It’s a bit of a game of two halves, as the first act is a rather slow-boiled affair, steadily laying the groundwork for a more confident, action-packed second act. It’s the price that you pay for reinvention, and it just about works out in the end.

The show does feel a little muddled, with the combination of pagan rituals, hi-vis jackets, archery, and contemporary music. Though historically music is an important part of the Robin Hood legend (through balladeers and the like), it doesn’t all work in this show - words get lost, and the compositions do feel quite nebulous at times. The whole production just needs a clearly defined style that can encompass the look, the sound, and the tone.

The trio of familiar Robin Hoods is a fun, camp treat, and makes for a good running gag throughout the piece - TJ Holmes, Shaun Yusuf McKee, and Simon Oskarsson acquit themselves excellently here. The onset of twilight as the second act progresses really heightens the atmosphere, and allows this unique setting to really come into its own; it certainly makes the more magical aspects of the story feel much less far-fetched, and draws the audience in to its world. For this reason, it may not work quite as well during a matinée performance, however this is just speculation.

The two-tiered set (designed by Chiara Stephenson) allows for swift transitions between scenes, accompanied by a change in lighting and an arrow sound effect. This means that, once the show picks up the pace, it is able to keep going without losing any momentum - plus the dual layer design is also much appreciated on a practical level, in case you happen to have someone’s head blocking the action on the ground floor at times.

Without completely giving away the plot, it’s nice to see the show make the point that mysterious action heroes like Hood are always assumed to be male, and in turn address the idea of female erasure from both history and stories. It also more than makes up for this historical imbalance with more than 50% of the roles going to women, and some genuinely heroic female characters taking the stage - I’m fairly sure that the majority of the audience would follow Betty (Stephanie Marion Fayerman) into any battle.

Paul Hunter is great as the imprisoned King, as he is mostly able to be silly and light-hearted (plus I’m convinced that he’s trying to make his scene partners corpse), but he can still draw on some gravitas when the moment requires it. Nandi Bhebhe is a natural balladeer, with her pristine vocals and commanding presence - in some ways it’s a shame that she gets sucked into the story, rather than staying on the periphery and guiding us through the action.

Although it has a rocky beginning, there is definite promise in this show and there are plenty of magical and entertaining moments for all to enjoy.

Robin Hood runs at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre until 22 July

Photo credit: Pamela Rait

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