The Adventures of Robin Hood

Times and tickets

“The Adventures of Robin Hood” opens 7:30 p.m. Feb. 1-2 and Feb. 8-9, with a matinee performance 2 p.m. Feb. 3, at the San Juan Community Theatre.

Call 378-3210 for ticket information.

Once upon a time there was a young knave, hero, opportunist, cad, trickster, free spirit, good shot with an arrow, and thief. He lived in a forest with a bunch of other like-minded guys. They were slackers and bums, but they were tired of being had by the local gendarmes.

Does he best the evil sheriff? Does he get the girl? Does he make the greedy and hypocritical clergy stand and deliver for the poor? Oh yeah. But we already knew that.

The story of Robin Hood is not only a twice-told tale, it is a legend that has been passed down through generations of oral story-telling traditions, to literature, and finally to film.

For Fred Yockers, choosing “The Adventures of Robin Hood” as this year’s offering from the Friday Harbor High School Drama Group, was a cinch. In true Yockers tradition, he selected this vehicle based on its humor, audience appeal and opportunities for young actors.

Then he turned it on its head. “There’s a niche for every zany idea in this play,” he said.

Therefore the traditional CheezWhiz Maid Marion is transformed by Bridget Hudson into a cell-phone-toting, power-walking, corporate type, a girl who’s never seen a glass ceiling, much less been stopped by one. Zac Williams’ Robin is, well, a little behind the times. Stuck in Sherwood Forest all these years, who could blame him?

The sheriff of Nottingham is a leather-clad send up of Alan Rickman in Kevin Costner’s “Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves,” complete with scene-chewing by Reuben Silverman. There are roles for giggly wenches, goofy guards, a gender-bending Friar Tuck and a pair of sexy nuns. There are a couple of “Men in Black.”

Watching a bare bones rehearsal of a scene, it’s apparent how Yockers’ own work as a member of comedy troupe is informing the moment for the young actors.

“Did you see how much energy they had?” Yockers said afterward. It was the first time he’d seen students, without the benefit of costumes and sets, begin to transform themselves into their parts.

“This has an egalitarian feel,” he said. “It’s more of a collaborative effort, where every idea from every actor has credence. Some of these kids named their own characters. They all own it. It’s great fun to watch.”

To prepare, Yockers has watched every Robin Hood film extant, read all the literature, done everything but channel the benevolent bandit himself.

For Yockers, there is never a “normal” production. It is always a huge extravaganza done with the kind of panache reserved for adult theater. There are the usual cast of multitudes, the unbelievably elaborate sets constructed by devoted parents, the thousand costume changes.

Then there are the sword fights. Yockers has taken great pains to train them well in stage fighting, demonstrating the five points of contact and the ways you anticipate what your stage opponent will do so you can block and parry.

Still, it’s all risky business. “The last scene, where everyone picks up a sword and starts whacking, scares the heck out of me,” he said. But that’s why you go to see live theater, he said. For the surprises, for the breathless high-wire act that is stage performance.

And with “The Adventures of Robin Hood,” for the laughs.

Why does the Robin Hood legend endure?

Why do the Robin Hood stories continue to fascinate modern audiences?

Regardless of audience, all the stories do share similar themes:

• Harshness and inequity of sheriffs

• The wealth, power and worldliness of certain churchmen

• A roughly enforced and crudely conceived idea of justice and morality: Robin operates within and without the law, choosing which formal laws to obey and which to ignore in favor of a higher, moral law

• A self-imposed code of honesty

• A good fight and adventurous chase, or a kind of zest for lawlessness

• Joking, especially trickery by disguise

— Associate editor Robin Hamilton reports on social issues, health care and entertainment for sanjuanjournal.com and The Journal of the San Juan Islands. She can be reached at (360) 378-4191 ext. 16 or email.

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