Robin Hood an interactive delight
One of the delights of traditional pantomime is that often the characters have to ad lib and react to situations not always in the script, which was the case for the opening of his year’s Circa Theatre pantomime – Robin Hood – The Pantomime.
Yet the odd opening-night glitch, which the cast dealt with admirably, only served to add to an already delightful rendition of the Robin Hood story.
And even after 10 years of using the same formula, director Susan Wilson, scriptwriter Roger Hall and songwriters Paul Jenden and Michael Nicholas Williams have produced a pantomime that is as fresh and up-to-date as ever.
As is well known, the story of Robin Hood occurs in forests and simple villages, giving the tale a rustic flavour, which was well portrayed by just having two tree stumps and a bench on stage, with a backdrop to each scene projected onto a huge screen.
As a consequence, the focus was totally on the characters to convey the story, and this they did with consummate ease – the cast, both young and old, singing and dancing their way around the stage with great agility, their energy never waning, the cracking one-liners and gags continually being delivered fast and furious.
Central to this story is Mother Hood, the pantomime dame, wonderfully played yet again by Gavin Rutherford, who has developed a real forte for this type of performance and plays every nuance to perfection, continually interacting with the audience.
Mother Hood’s mission is to help her son Robin (Simon Leary) win the hand of Maid Marian (Acushla-Tara Sutton) from the evil sheriff (Nick Dunbar), with the help of Little Andrew (Andrew Paterson), Friar Tuck (Jonathan Morgan) and Hattie (Jane Waddell), these three actors also playing numerous other parts.
Along the way, they have lots of adventures with plenty of interactive responses from the audience and many very funny references to topical issues, such as Christmas Island, the inevitable flag debate, retiring rugby players and the usual array of politicians.
And the jousting tournament at the end between the sherriff and Robin Hood is cleverly staged, with the younger members of the audience up on the stage yelling and booing, making this yet another successful Circa Theatre pantomime.