FIFTH OPENING – The Sitka seine boats Hukilau and Rose Lee pump herring aboard this afternoon at the end of Deep Inlet during the fifth opening in the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery. The opening was being held in two locations beginning at 11 a.m. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson) 

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Daily Sitka Sentinel

Kids to Present Robin Hood – With a Twist

By BRIELLE SCHAEFFER

Sentinel Staff Writer

Talking deer, clumsy soldiers, gangsters and ninja nuns, or “nunjas,” will all be on stage in the Sitka Fine Arts Camp’s production of “The Trials of Robin Hood” next weekend.

The play is a retelling of the classic story of the hero who robs from the rich and gives to the poor. 

Esther Burdick plays Peter Pan at Allen Hall’s Odess Theater during Sitka Fine Arts Camp Young Performers Theater production of “Peter Pan” in 2015. Many of the same actors in last year’s production, including Burdick, will return to the stage in the comedy “The Trials of Robin Hood.” (Sentinel File Photo)

“It’s a story that everyone knows and there’s a new twist on it,” Director Zeke Blackwell said. “We get to play with people’s expectations. They think they know the story of Robin Hood, but our version goes a little bit differently than what they expect.”

And Blackwell is hoping the kooky comedy will bring Sitkans some much-needed relief during this especially political and angsty election year. 

“There’s so much going on in the country that every once in a while it’s nice to have a night of entertainment to laugh and smile and share something in the community,” he said.

The play even requires some audience participation. The premise is that Robin Hood is on trial to determine if he is a hero or a criminal, and viewers get to decide which. 

“The play presents three versions,” Blackwell explained. “The first from the perspective of Robin Hood, where he’s a stout and lusty hero, the second through Maid Marian’s eyes where he is a hopeless romantic, and the third through the sheriff’s, where he’s mean and oafish.”

The show has a couple of alternate endings, based on what the audience thinks.

“Each night we’ll only perform one ending, based on audience applause,” Blackwell said. 

The same 35 young thespians will be showcased on stage in the four performances of the play. In previous plays it has been necessary to have kids double up on parts, in effect creating two casts, in order to give everybody a chance to act on stage.

“This script is so large we actually haven’t had to do that,” Blackwell said. “It’s been really exciting working more in depth with one cast. ... There’s a lot going on in this. It’s a little madcap and a little zany, and it moves fast.”

With the alternate endings, the play required the actors to learn more parts.

“They have to be prepared to switch between the three,” Blackwell said. “They’re not super long, 3 or 4 minutes total, but they do have to be on their feet a little bit.”

And the production could give an adult theater troupe a good workout. There are nice sets, cool costumes and three dozen actors who take their roles very seriously. 

Eighth-grader Esther Burdick plays Guy of Gisborne. He’s a “player,” she said.

“He swaggers a lot,” she said. “He thinks he’s on top of people and that he can get whatever he wants.”

This is a departure from the actual personality of this middle-school girl, but she likes it that way. Theater is a way for her to express herself, she said. Esther starred in the Sitka Fine Arts Camp’s “Peter Pan” last fall.

“I love being in the productions,” she said. “They let me be someone I’m not in normal life.”

The “Trials of Robin Hood” is funny, she said, and changed her ideas about the legendary figure of the title.

While Esther thinks Robin Hood is innocent in the play, her character thinks otherwise.

 

“He thinks he’s guilty because he thinks he’s the center of the universe,” she said.

Like Esther, fourth-grader Hannah McEwen loves that the theater allows her to be someone else on stage. 

“It’s like you’re living in a whole other time zone,” she said. 

She has several parts in the play: a nun, Lady Ellen and Lady Lucy. It’s her first production ever and she’s hooked.

“It’s really exciting,” she said. “I think I’ll do more.”

The play is “good entertainment,” she said. “It’s funny and has a lot of humor in it.”

But don’t just take her word for it. See “The Trails of Robin Hood” for yourself at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22. and 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23, at the Odess Theater in Allen Hall.

 

Tickets are $10, $5 for students/seniors. Children under 5 are free.

Cast

Robin Hood – Levi Danielson 

Lovelorn Robin Hood –  Jesse Hanson 

Silly Robin Hood – Aria Phillips 

Maid Marian – Cora Dow 

Sassy Maid Marian – Virginia Pearson 

Friar Tuck – Mina Brooks-Schmidt 

Little John – Zia Allen 

Will/Willa Scarlett – Adelaide Poulson 

Much/Madge the Miller’s Child – Alyssa Henshaw 

Nathaniel Piper – Mia Anderson 

William Church – Muriel Reid 

Daniel Boyle – Anja Brooks-Schmidt 

Nancy – Tyler Garrity 

Billy – Taylor Majeski 

Danni – Juel Fowler 

King Richard – Isabel Carter 

Prince John – Olivia Wilcox 

The Sheriff of Nottingham – Abigail FitzGibbon 

Guy of Gisborne – Esther Burdick 

The Herald – Rebecca Warren 

Janice – Malin Marius 

King’s Deer – Tava Guillory 

Archery Butt – Chalice Brenton 

Bart Common – Morgan Hanson 

Finn Lucky – Ben Hedrick 

Tobias – Kai Griffin 

Soldiers/Archers – Will Whitehead, Hayden Raasch 

Abess – Fiona Raasch 

Sister Stephanie – Delayna Barry 

Sister Elena – Rita Christianson 

Sister Agatha – Addison Moore 

Nuns – Virginia, Hannah,  Chalice 

Edward of Locksley – Beatrice Perez-Petersen 

Esmerelda of Locksley – Tyler Garrity 

Alan-A-Dale – Soren Marius 

Lady Ellen – Hannah McEwen 

Lord Duncan – Hayden Raasch 

Tax Collector – Rita Christianson 

Clergy Woman – Delayna Barry 

Evil Lady – Addison Moore 

Honest Dave the Tinker – Soren Marius 

 

Lady Lucy – Hannah McEwen 

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20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Matthew C. Hunter of Sitka recently returned from Cuba as part of a St. Olaf College International and Off-Campus Studies program. Hunter, a junior physics major at St. Olaf College, is the son of Robert and Kim Hunter of Sitka.


50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Eighth graders have returned from a visit to Juneau to see the Legislature. They had worked for it since Christmas vacation ... Clarice Johnson’s idea of a “White Elephant” sales was chosen as the best money-maker; Joe Roth won the political cartoon assignment; highest government test scorers were Ken Armstrong, Joanna Hearn, Linda Montgomery, Lisa Henry, Calvin Taylor and David Licari .....

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