Robin Hood equalizes more than social classes
Canadian playwright brings female perspective to the classic story
Robin Hood—who, according to the 1950s TV show theme song, was feared by the bad and loved by the good — is currently in residence at Centaur Theatre, along with his merry men and his main squeeze, Maid Marian.
Two local performers are very excited about acting out their childhood fantasies on stage in the world première of a new adaptation of the much-beloved tale, by Canadian playwright Paula Wing, presented by Geordie Productions.
“I don’t know any little boy who doesn’t dream at some time of being Robin Hood,” said Eric Davis, who is playing the woodsy hero dedicated to closing the gap between the rich and the poor.
To Davis, it’s a time to remember his backyard hijinks and the bit of archery he learned at summer camp. Action scenes have been choreographed with the help of professional fight director Robert Montcalm.
“Robin Hood is very much fun to play and I’m honoured to be able to play him,” Davis said. “I can only wish that we were all as altruistic as Robin Hood.”
For Tamara Brown, who is playing Maid Marian in Wing’s updated version of the story, the opportunity is doubly exciting because she participated in a staging of the story in elementary school.
“I was a villager,” she recalled. “I got bumped on the head with a fake sword.” That was at a time when visibleminority girls didn’t expect to get a crack at playing the female lead in a British historical tale.
“I love this company,” she said. “I love its practice of deracialized casting. And I love the way audiences respond to its shows. I’ve wanted to be a part of it for a long time.”
Children’s theatre companies, perhaps taking their cue from Sesame Street, were the first ones to learn that their audiences really aren’t concerned about skin colour.
“The kids just get into the story whatever magic you put in front of them,” Brown said.
Brown, who has worked extensively with Black Theatre Workshop and recently played Queen Elizabeth in Metachroma’s Richard III, is also pleased with the modernity of Wing’s female perspective. “It’s fantastic to have a woman take a look at the script again and look at the story through her lens.”
Among other things, Wing has created a new female character, Midge, the miller’s daughter, played by Natasha O’Brien, and has given Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine (played by Susan Glover) an important role in the drama involving her bad-guy son, Prince John. (She was also the mother of King Richard I, aka Richard the Lionheart.)
Davis said he, too, is pleased with the new gender balance of what was previously a highly “guy-centric” tale.
“It’s a very different version,” he said. “But it’s still very true to the Robin Hood legend.” One of Wing’s key sources, he said, was the 1938 movie starring Errol Flynn as Robin and Olivia de Havilland as Marian.
One thing that remains unaltered is Robin Hood’s heroism. However, “he starts off as a rich spoiled brat,” Davis reminded. “But he learns, from all these wonderful friends he accumulates, how to be a better man.”
In order to research the role, Davis watched some documentaries and read as much as he could about the history of Robin Hood. “It goes back hundreds of years,” he said, “and nobody is really sure where it starts or who started it. Back then, any thief was called a hood. There were a couple of people who could possibly have been the real Robin Hood. But I think that what really happened was that the legend took on a life of its own.”
Both Brown and Davis are graduates of Concordia’s drama department, and they’re thrilled to be working on the Centaur II mainstage at the theatre. The cast also includes Greg Kramer as the Sheriff of Nottingham, Matthew Kabwe as Little John, James Loye as Prince John, Matthew Dawson as Allin-a-Dale, Robert Montcalm as King Richard, and Christian Jadah as Friar Tuck. The set is designed by Ana Cappelluto.
Davis stressed that Robin Hood isn’t just for kids. He said director Dean Patrick Fleming wanted to get across the idea that there’s more to the story than forest adventure: “He wanted to get at the idea that it’s the birth of socialism, almost, with this band of merry men and women in the forest fighting the corruption of the government and finding a new way of living through their community. There’s so much in it that it’s definitely an allages show.”
Robin Hood, by Paula Wing, continues until Dec. 16 at Centaur Theatre, 453 St. François Xavier St. in Old Montreal. Call 514-8459810 or 514-288-3161 or visit www.geordie.ca.