New England Youth Theatre’s ‘Robin Hood’ features ‘fearless, fun storytelling’ | Entertainment

BRATTLEBORO — New England Youth Theatre is putting its own puppet-filled spin on the story of Robin Hood. 

The production includes “a topsy-turvy tumble of silly puns, fantastical feats of derring-do, archery contests, and of course, heroic deeds of proactive wealth redistribution,” according to an announcement for the upcoming show happening at NEYT at 7 p.m. this Friday, 2 and 7 p.m. on Saturday, and 2 p.m. on Sunday. 

John Hadden of Landgrove, director, said the play was written by NEYT co-founder Peter Gould “so it’s a very clown oriented, spoofy version with wordplay and a puppet show, and silliness and physical comedy.”

“It also has a slightly subversive take on kings,” Hadden said. 

With the king ending up being uninterested in the people who have eagerly awaited his return, Hadden said the play is interesting to perform with a group of 9 to 13 year olds as they’re coming into an awareness of the world and learning they can’t expect the ideal utopian life. The title of the play is “Robin Hood (or, How Robin Hood Became Robin Hood, and How He Met His Friends, Had Several Adventures, Gave Up His Outlaw Life, and Became an Immortal Political and Economical Organizer).”

Puppetry is written to be performed by the actors. They become marionettes and move like puppets, Hadden said. 

“They do one of the Robin Hood stories as puppets, narrated by another actor from behind and manipulated by a couple of puppeteers above,” he said. “It’s complicated, but it’s in the play and we have to do it.”

Hadden said the cast includes 15 children, with a smaller group working with costumes and in the tech booth. Another group of kids is on a waiting list to come into the show if needed and will perform a series of “Grimm Fairy Tales” as part of the pre-show directed by Cassidy Majer called “Fearsome Folktales.” 

Over seven weeks, students meet three days a week after school for three hours each time. Hadden called the process “intense.”

“It’s a great place for kids to come and feel like they have another community,” he said. “It’s a real experience to the theater. We all come from the profession, and so we inculcate those same rituals and disciplines and stuff like that.”

In a world that’s never been so “chaotic and dangerous,” Hadden said he thinks “these kids are feeling that.”

“So to give them something to do that has a lot of form and structure that they can see, succeed in and work with each other and communicate and listen and react and respond, I think, gives them really important tools that they’re going to need to use,” he said. “We’re relying on them to get us out of these fixes. So the more we can give them ahead of time, the better we’ll be.”

Actors said the audience can expect a lot of humor and violence, although the play is fun for people of all ages. Stage fighting and dancing were cited as the most challenging parts for them. 

Robin Donohoe, 10, of Brattleboro, plays Maid Marion and a dog.

“I think it’s very fun,” Robin said, “because Maid Marion can have some sass. And the dogs, you don’t actually have to speak. You can just growl and chase people.”

Imogene Harkawik, 9, of Wilmington, enjoys learning how to switch costumes as she plays different characters. Sharing roles requires the actors to discuss how to maintain similar personalities in their portrayals, they said. 

Robin Hood is played by Vega Valentine, 12, of Guilford, and five other actors. 

“It’s really fun,” Vega said. “I get to yell at people in the show and be very sarcastic, my core strengths.” 

Elodie Hughes, 10, of Brattleboro, likes playing Little John.

“You’re on top of someone and you get to be very aggressive,” Elodie said. “You’re really big but you’re actually named Little John.” 

Elodie and two other actors share the role. 

As Friar Tuck, Elodie has a funny line that had the cast cracking up during the interview before a recent rehearsal started. Other dialogue in the play also had them laughing. 

The production features costumes by Sandy Klein, sets by David Regan, and lights and sound by Francesca Bourgeault. The show is “brought to life by NEYT’s youth-led crew of costumers and tech artists,” according to the announcement.

“As always, the Junior Company brings together professional-quality production values and the kind of fearless, fun storytelling only young performers can deliver,” the announcement states.