Briony Buckell and her family and friends enjoy the festive fun of a classic tale with a teenage twist
The Egg theatre in Bath has been a bolt hole of mine for years as a great place to take a break and enjoy a coffee in the café. It’s also a little bit away from the hustle and noise of the centre, and has always been welcoming and friendly.
My most recent visit, however, was to see Robin Hood, one of The Egg’s always excellent (so we’d been told) Christmas productions, along with a friend and two of the hardest critics you find, a pair of nine year old girls!
We got to the theatre a little early and the girls stocked up on snacks before we went and found our seats. For all the coffee I have drunk in the café I have never actually been into the theatre and I wasn’t sure what to expect. First reaction was that while it’s not very big, it is very cosy which meant that our second row seats made us feel we were going to be right in the middle of the action.
The stage was in touching distance and its forest scene is brought to life with scaffolding towers that works unexpectedly well.
It’s always a little risky putting on a play that has such a well known storyline. That of Robin Hood – outlaw hero and all around righter of wrongs – has been handed down through the ages. I can absolutely say that the cast and director have risen to the challenge on this occasion; the play has been written to appeal to a younger audience and given the reaction of the girls, neither of whom know the Robin Hood story, it’s achieved that goal.
The start set the scene very quickly and we had the usual characters… with a twist. The cast are portrayed as teenagers that have run away from home full of that certainty that the world should be just and fair, and the adults don’t know what they are doing.
Bringing the play to life are Maid Marion (played by Harriett O’Grady) was absolutely rocking it, and both girls declared her to be their favourite. Little John (Tom Mackean) and Much (Ellian Showering) were playing the merry men, Robin hood (Sam Liu) and the Sheriff of Nottingham (Dan Wheeler) who took on the role of an excellent villain. Special mention also has to go to King Richard who was played by Momoko Mackey and was absolutely brilliant, gloriously sequined and with attitude in spades! We loved her.
Casting the main parts as teenagers made them more relatable to the girls and the script does a good job of introducing concepts like equality under the law, sovereign rule of the monarch and democracy in terms that children are likely to understand… although we did have to explain what an ‘outlaw’ was on the way home.
When we asked the girls what they had enjoyed, their highlights were joining in slightly panto style in the second half, the singing and the story. They also thought it was ‘really good’ which is high praise indeed from a pair of nine year olds.
Robin Hood runs at The Egg Theatre until 11 January 2025. You can find more information and book tickets at https://www.theatreroyal.org.uk/events/robin-hood/
