Robin Hood

Robin Hood as a Theatre for Young Audiences piece brings together city and earth to create a magical forest spectacle. The story is conveyed through the eyes of the homeless, yet the stories take place deep in Sherwood. The melding of two worlds solidifies that the age old tale of Robin Hood transcends time. The lighting design of the piece both shapes and drives the story as we follow Robin and his men through the mystical world of Sherwood.

One of the greatest challenges when designing Robin Hood was defining location with limited scenic variation. The scenic design for the show, by the wonderful Anne Sherer, incorporated a 30′ diameter revolve upon which sat a gigantic rockface 84″ at it’s highest point. While opening the world of Sherwood to about 360 degrees of environment, the varying heights and simplicity of scenic design left a lot to the lighting design of the show.

Robin and his men traverse the forest, through the Village of Nottingham, and deep into Robin’s Camp amongst the trees of Sherwood. The use of heavy texture in varying layers from many angles, as well as the use of atmospheric haze in various intensities helped to move Robin, Marian, and the cast of characters through the Forest, simply with light. Creating unique visual landscapes while keeping a cohesive overall aesthetic was challenging but achieved successfully.

With the fast-paced nature of the production, something of the utmost importance in a show for kids, the story needed to be carried with speed. Transitions were quick and often took the audience from the forest of Sherwood into the Castle with a quick revolve of the massive rock. Carefully crafted and masterfully orchestrated multi-part transitions seamlessly merged the two worlds allowing the audiences attention to flow right along with the rhythm of the show.

In this production of Robin Hood there are three particular design elements that were essential in creating the world of Sherwood. The windows and the warm glow ‘inside’ is introduced as Will Scarlett and Much creep through the Village of Nottingham to drop gold on the doorsteps of the inhabitants. Robin’s Camp is a unique and mystical location hidden away deep in the forest. I used nearly 200 fireflies to add mysticism and magic to the home of Robin and his men. 8000 feet of custom cut set-installed fiber optics were used to enhance the magical ambiance of the hideout.  Lastly, this production of the timeless tale has nearly 30 minutes of stage combat – including dozens of arrows shot. As shooting real arrows on stage is difficult, the illusion of flying arrows was left to lighting. I used the reoccurring flash and movement of small points of light to signify the flying of arrows – while the sound design and actors helped with the arrow hits and ‘whoosh’.

I worked closely with audio, scenic, and props to create a beautiful world for this story of Robin Hood to live within. The story told trascended time and taught its audiences that the idea of Robin Hood exists in everyday life. The production pleased audiences and was a fan amongst the nearly 2000 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students who attended during the run. This production is a National Nominee for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Excellence in Lighting Design Award.