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Robin Hood
A Fanciful Historie of That Most Notable&
Fameous Outlaw Robyn Hood
By Scott Lynch-Giffings
Directed by Kevin Theis
Produced by Oak Park Festival Theatre
At Austin Gardens
Forest & Ontario
Oak Park, IL
Call 708-445-4440, tickets $20 - $25
Thursdays thru Saturdays at 8 pm
Sundays at 7 pm
Running time is 2 hours, 15 minutes with intermission
Through August 25, 2007
Outdoor Robin Hood enchants
Oak Park Festival Theatre, know for excellent productions of Shakespeare, has mounted an enchanting and warm production of Robin Hood written in Shakespearian styled verse. Scott Lynch-Giddings has The Bard’s style down nicely as his light-hearted and often funny ode to the tales of the good bandit offers a nice evening of outdoor theatre. 
With a cast of 18 featuring a blend of veteran classical actors with talented young new players, director Kevin Theis and fight director Geoff Coates have enough action to entertain. For the most part, the cast handles the rhyming couples with excellent articulation making the dialogue appear real.
Christopher Prentice, a talented actor with a fine command of language and the stage, plays Robin Hood as a charismatic leader bent on social justice. Steve Pickering is wonderfully nasty as the villain Sir Henry Falcomberg, the Sheriff of Nottingham. Alex Reimers as John and Claudia C. Vasilvik as Queen Elinor typify the aristocracy. We see Robin Hood’s men led by “Little John” (Ted Jonas), Friar Tuck (David Elliott) and Much (Michael Rosenblum) make merry and harass the Sheriff of Nottingham. They do rob from the rich and give to the poor. Robin Hood falls in love with Lady Marian (Meredith Siemsen), a most liberated woman of her time. She sword fights as good as the men as she helps Robin Hood survive his capture.
This enchanting and light show follows the tale of Robin Hood religiously. The show is fun and filled with action, fine stage combat and fine performances. Steve Pickering and Christopher Prentice are commanding while Michael Rosenblum, Alex Reimers, Nick Vidal and Steve Lenz offer terrific supporting work. I enjoyed this fun filled adventure. Kids will like the action, especially the sword fighting.
Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: July 22, 2007
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