Robin Hood
Presented By The Pinedale Fine Arts Council and Sublette Boces
by Terry Allen and Abigale Scanlon
April 9, 2018
Friday, April 6, 2018 in the Sheppard Auditorium, the Missoula Children's Theatre Company consisting of 64 local children, presented the Michael McGill version of Robin Hood.
As it is a play for children, put on by children, and I was dependent on children for helping me understand what was going on...I asked Abilgail Scanlon if she would like to tell us the story in her own words. After her story, I have included a few cute quotes from some of the cast and crew.
Abigail: "Ok, I’m not sure what timeline it is set in, but probably a long time ago. What happens is:
Robin Hood is an outlaw who is stealing most of the time, and he loves Maid Marion but she can’t really help him because it would be treason.
So while King Richard leaves to take care of business elsewhere, Prince John takes over while he is gone. The problem is, Prince John is a bit of a tyrant, we could say. He decides to raise the taxes without a good reason and this is obviously unfair to all the people including all the 14 Foresters who somehow bear most of the brunt of his actions. Maid Marion is found out for trying to help Robin Hood whose plan is to help the Foresters and the other people by stealing from the rich and giving their money to the poor.
Maid Marion goes out to try and help Robin but is captured by the Sheriff of Nottingham and his Horsemen. But her Maid manages to get away and she goes to Robin Hood to tell him Maid Marion has been captured. Robin Hood decides to put together a team to rescue Maid Marion. He comes across this band of out of work performers, but they’re also kind of outlaws. They would be The Merry Band. The Merry Band helps them distract the Sheriff of Nottingham and his Guards so that Robin Hood can sneak into the castle and rescue Maid Marion.
During that, the Sheriff of Nottingham overhears their plan and he decides he’s going to try to trap Robin Hood when he tries to rescue Maid Marion. So he gets the Aristocrats who are kind of like the Nobles and he sets them up as bait. So Robin and the Merry Band are hiding in the woods and see the Aristocrats coming and they surprise them and take their money from them.
That’s when the Aristocrats signal the Guards to come rescue them, but the Merry Band scares the Aristocrats and the Sheriff off, so technically their plan failed. Prince John is of course furious because this is at least the second attempt to capture Robin Hood that didn’t work. But, Robin’s plan to rescue Maid Marion continues with the Merry Band creating a distraction. They distract the Guards and everyone else and Robin Hood sneaks into the castle and rescues Maid Marion.
At this point the Sheriff, Guards and Horsemen have already run off leaving Prince John by himself. Prince John is feeling a little downcast because he doesn’t understand why people hate him so much. It is explained to him by a brave soul that he is a little bit of a tyrant…and well, technically…he’s not the best King ever, I guess you could say.
So he decides to employ 16 Skunks who have helped Maid Marion and her Maid on numerous occasions to help them find their way when they were lost in the forest. So he employs the Skunks to become friends with Prince John, so technically, it’s hard for Prince John to get out of line because if he does, the Skunks will spray him. So Prince John’s temper has…how shall I put this…been reduced in its strength. So now the Skunks have a friend in Prince John…well, not a very good friend, but oh well…a working relationship you could say.
Maid Marion is safe, and the Foresters have their money back. Then King Richard returns and says he has seen everything and he approves of how his people resolved their differences. When asked where he has been, he said he had been living with the Foresters and talking with trees…but that’s a different story and I don’t really have the story right now.
So in the end, Robin goes back to being an outlaw, the Merry Band goes with him because they have decided to stick with him. Maid Marion is safe, and Prince John has new friends that will keep him in line…and well, everything kind of goes on Happily Ever After."
Quotes and other bits:
When I asked for help understanding the play, Delaney and Hannah tried to convince me there was a dragon in it, but Wyatt told me they were just teasing the geezer.
Liberty to stray kid walking by: "Are you a guard? Are you a guard? What are you?
Anna the Director: "There's no reason you should be peeking behind the set. Don't you know Anna's Rules? I like rules a lot."
Ella and Sam: "We say: Like yeah..and we sing songs."
Cameron: "I sometimes stink like a skunk."
Delaney: "My favorite part is when I stink up the castle."
Mrs. Nelson: "It is always very enjoyable and nice to be involved in something they put together in less than a week."
Abigail: "I didn't want to get assigned the wrong part and didn't want to remember lines, so I became an Assistant Sound Director.
A special thanks to Abigail who had to tell me her version twice because I geezer'd it and lost the first version. She also helped me understand some photos. This is why I thought it only right to give her a byline.
A big thanks to Dawn Ballou at Pinedale Online for sponsoring this story.
If you'd like to sponsor a story, contact Dawn.
Terry Allen: txpartisan@gmail.com
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