Rise of Robin Hood 2024

Scroll down to find the video recording of the Rise of Robin Hood

Plot:

Told as an origin story, we meet Robin Hood as an orphaned youth in a prosperous and thriving Nottingham.  Robin has arrived with his twin sister Hazel, where they plan to open an archery shop.  First, however, they must win the favor of Lady Blackwood. 

Making things more difficult, the Sheriff of Nottingham, who has spies lurking all around, including his daughter Marian, is in cahoots with Lady Blackwood.  They plan to wed and increase their power over Nottingham by taxing the people blind. 

Robin and Hazel quickly make friends in town — Friar Tuck, Little John, and Sayra, Little John’s fierce warrior daughter — but are soon driven away by the evil sheriff.  Retreating to Sherwood Forest, Robin vows to restore Nottingham to a land of prosperity and hope. 

This fesh take of a timeless classic pays homage to the original narrative while infusing it with newfound intricacies and substance. Bursting with dynamic sequences, including thrilling action, suspenseful chase scenes, daring prison breaks, and meticulously crafted fighting sequences, this production assures an enthralling experience that is sure to captivate and impress.  

Embedded within the thrilling narrative of Robin Hood's quest for justice, this reimagining also carries a powerful message: know right from wrong, act with a conscience, and be prepared to help those in need. Through Robin's actions and the challenges he faces, audiences are encouraged to reflect on the importance of moral integrity, empathy, and standing up against injustice. In a world where corruption and greed threaten to oppress the vulnerable, Robin's journey serves as a reminder of the enduring values of integrity and compassion.

Cast & Production history:

"Rise of Robin Hood," written by Brian D. Taylor, features 60 roles, 35 of which are speaking parts. These roles are brought to life by 57 cast members. Due to a three-year time jump in the storyline, five main roles are portrayed by two actors each, representing younger and older versions of the characters.

Internationally, seven schools have performed this particular script. El Shaddai will be the only school in South Africa to have staged this play. It has also been performed by schools in Texas, Kansas, Canada, Portugal, and Illinois.

Background on the playwright:

Brian D. Taylor was born and raised in Marlow, a small, rural village in southwestern Oklahoma.  While spending his childhood running through the fields and developing a healthy fear of cows, he always had a very active imagination, creating and acting out stories about the land and the animals and good versus evil, but he didn’t realize he was a playwright.  Growing up in a very large family, he always wrote and directed plays for his cousins to perform for the grown-ups, but he didn’t realize he was a playwright.  In high school, he took a drama class entirely by accident.  It changed his life and helped him realize his passion for the arts, but he still didn’t know he was a playwright.  In less than a week of classes at the business school at the University of Denver, he quickly decided he’d rather hang out with the theatre kids and so changed his major to theatre and never looked back.

His time there required a playwriting class and he began to write plays.  It was a fun experience, but his professors were hoping for the next Pulitzer Prize winner and turned their noses up at his work.  He began to actively write scripts, but failed to finish them because the editor who lives inside his head was constantly finding flaws with them.  Upon graduation from college, he looked into the future and wondered what he wanted his life to be.  He chose to teach drama so he could always be working on a show and might be able to inspire a love for the arts in his students.  He thought it would be nice to write plays in the summertime.  If only the playwright that lived inside his head could finally conquer the editor.

After several wonderful years of teaching drama and writing the first acts of hundreds of plays, Brian found a job that would finally allow his inner editor to express himself.  He became an editor at Pioneer Drama Service, a publisher of sweet plays and musicals.  It wasn’t long before the playwright inside of him was longing to express himself, too.  And so the battle of a lifetime began.  After a month of inner warfare, the playwright and editor had hammered out Brian’s first play, Revenge of the Pigs, and discovered that, instead of mortal enemies, they were really the perfect teammates.