Baby Lamb Productions have scored another success with their latest production, Robin Hood (that sick f**k) at the Bread and Roses Theatre.
Let’s hear it for pantomime-noir (a genre you never knew you needed)
The title should indicate that this is not a show for youngsters, but it has all the ingredients that make children’s shows so endearing and simplistically funny. It doesn’t reach the level of outrageous hilarity achieved by their previous production, The Emperor’s New Clothes, but it is a further example and development of a theatrical genre they are calling ‘pantomime-noir’ and its refreshingly original. In an age of navel-gazing introspection, obsessed with indentity, sex and gender, this comes as a breath of fresh air. It’s a show that would provide a period of light relief in any theatre’s programme, whatever the season, and appeal to a wide demographic. The play has music, but rather than going down the now laboured route of creating yet another musical, the show is limited to three delightful and amusing songs with an opening number reprise to round it off. There are even opportunities to join in. Composition is by Ashok Gupta and Oliver Moyles, with lyrics devised by the cast.
The beaming Ashok Gupta (Robin) peeps from behind the curtain, looks out, checks the forest is clear and is joined by his band of Merry Men. (That’s what they are always know as, by the way, lest someone unfamiliar with the story thinks I’ve made a pronoun gaffe, given that in this case his outlaws are not exclusively male. But as far as I’m aware no one has suggested the non-alliterative Merry Theys……yet.) They launch into the leg-kicking opening number that itemises Robin’s many crimes and explains why the Sheriff of Nottingham (Hannah McLeod) is after him. This is not the traditional beyond-reproach Robin, though he does still rob the rich and give to the poor; occasionally. Or as they have rephrased it, he ‘steals from the greedy and gives it the needy’.
Then we are transported from the late twelfth century to a modern-day incident room. The black curtains with the dangling leaves and flowers are swept aside and the white-board is pulled out. The map of Nottinghamshire mounted on its surface has pins indicating where bodies have been found, pictures of the prime suspects and his known accomplices and lines of red string joining incident spots together. The set’s simplicity works efficiently and effectively as officers gather to track down the notorious villain.
The ensemble cast now embarks on a series of rapid changes as they take on numerous roles. Gupta appears in the news reporting and crime investigation team, as does Sasha Brooks who also plays the love-lorn Maid Marian. Jacob Baird takes on two contrasting but equally hilarious roles as an unworthy Father Tuck and the none-too-competent Irish police constable, Peter Connell. Amongst the mayhem Alexandra Monroe, along with several other roles, plays the calm and rational stereotypical secretary with laptop. Called in to unravel why this enquiry has been going on for over ten years with no results, Nisha Emich plays the alluring officer sent from head office to sort out the local incompetence. What she hadn’t bargained for is the seductive Detective Inspective Guy Gisborne. The handsome Janik Rajapakse ouzes ego, poses in ways that suggest he has a very high opinion of himself and exudes misguided charm in his failed attempt to impress. Amusingly he doubles as Willy in Robin’s camp.
The script, which is full of witty humour, silly jokes, double entendres and smutty suggestions, was written by the cast and imaginatively directed by Hannah McLeod with fervent pace. Let’s hear it for pantomime-noir (a genre you never knew you needed) and hope that other theatres come to appreciate its merits.
