Robin and the Sherwood Hoodies: Behind the Scenes

Last year’s Y6 production, Robin and the Sherwood Hoodies was really fun, even though we had to face a lot of difficulties. In this article, we will talk about our experiences.

The first thing we had to do for our play was auditions. The teachers gave us an audition script before the Easter holidays so we could practice during the holidays. There was a goodies script and a baddies script. We were allowed to participate in as many auditions as we wanted. The teachers then spent a few days figuring out which role will fit each of us the best.

The final result was Mila and Harrison as our wonderful main characters (Maid Marion and Robin Hood respectively). Some other goodie roles were the Nurses, the Merry Men, the villagers and the skunks. Now onto the baddies. For our main villains we have Liliana playing the selfish King John and Léna playing the annoying Sheriff. Since this play is Robin Hood but comedy version, our comedy trio were Breakin’, Grabbit and Bolt. Other Castle Crew included the Dungeon Master and his glamorous assistant, Genghis, and the guards. Finally, the tech people who did all the sound effects and lighting were also part of our wonderful cast.

At our first rehearsal we still had the scripts in front of us most of the time, which made physical movements like jumping onto the stage more difficult. The teachers kept encouraging us to learn our lines so in a few months time nearly everyone knew their lines pretty well.

After we finally managed to learn our lines, the next step was to learn to talk loudly, step forward when speaking, face the audience and on top of all of that, learn the dance steps and the song lyrics. It definitely took some practice and quite a few mistakes along the way, but in the end, we managed to do it successfully. Before our first performance, the teachers watched us very carefully one last time and when we finished, Ms. Leeming said, „They’re ready.” This made us so happy because we knew that we will be able to pull off a great performance.

Our performances were a success, but we made some mistakes. A common mistake was forgetting lines and taking a few seconds to remember. Another common mistake was speaking too fast and not stepping forward when speaking. Luckily, the audience didn’t notice so the performance continued. The audience also laughed along to our jokes. One of the most awkward lines was „ Fair Maid Marion, shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more temperate... with slightly less chance of a drizzle.” One of our funnier lines was, „So walk like you’re eating Welsh cheese. How’s that? Caerphilly.”

After we finished our performance, packing up was tiring as we had to figure out how to deal with the props. But everything was worth it as we made a special memory.