Bush / Winkworth Robin Hood and the Christmas Heist

1. Auflage 2024
ISBN: 978-1-78850-856-8
Verlag: Nick Hern Books
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 104 Seiten

Reihe: NHB Modern Plays

As winter's first snow falls, there's not much Christmas cheer in Sherwood Forest. Cupboards are bare, the nights are cold, and the cruel Sheriff of Nottingham squeezes his citizens for every penny they're worth. But deep in the forest, in the heart of the Major Oak, Robin and Marian are plotting an audacious scheme to bring some festive joy to all... This charming retelling of the Robin Hood legend by Chris Bush, with music by Matt Winkworth, was first performed at Rose Theatre, Kingston upon Thames, in 2024, directed by Elin Schofield. Robin Hood and the Christmas Heist was commissioned by the Rose to be performed by members of the Rose Youth Theatre alongside four professional adult actors - and offers a wealth of opportunities for other theatre companies who want a merry Christmas classic that hits the target.

Chris Bush is a playwright, lyricist and theatre-maker. Her plays include: Otherland (Almeida Theatre, London, 2025); Robin Hood and the Christmas Heist written with Matt Winkworth (Rose Theatre, Kingston, 2024); an adaptation of Ibsen's A Doll's House (Sheffield Theatres, 2024); Rock/Paper/Scissors (Sheffield Theatres, 2022); an adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, and New Vic, Newcastle-under-Lyme, 2022); (Not) the End of the World (Schaubühne, Berlin, 2021); Hungry (Paines Plough, 2021); Nine Lessons and Carols (Almeida Theatre, London, 2020); Faustus: That Damned Woman (Headlong, Lyric Hammersmith & Birmingham Rep, 2020); The Last Noël (Old Fire Station, Oxford, 2019); Standing at the Sky's Edge, a musical with music and lyrics by Richard Hawley (Sheffield Theatres, 2019, revived 2022 and at the National Theatre in 2023, West End 2024); The Changing Room (National Theatre Connections, 2018); Steel (Sheffield Theatres, 2018); an adaptation of Pericles (National Theatre, London, 2018); The Assassination of Katie Hopkins, written with Matt Winkworth (Theatr Clwyd, 2018); What We Wished For and A Dream.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Bush, Chris

Winkworth, Matt

Leseproben

ACT ONE

Scene One

CHILD CHILDREN/TEENS NUTMEG CLOVE BERRY SPROUT PEAR PLUM PARSNIP PARTRIDGE

MUCH CHILD

Song: ‘In the Bleak’

MUCH/CHILDREN.

IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER

FROSTY WIND MADE MOAN

EARTH STOOD HARD AS IRON

WATER LIKE A STONE

SNOW HAD FALLEN SNOW ON SNOW

SNOW ON SNOW

IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER

LONG AGO

MARIAN LITTLE JOHN

COMPANY.

KEEP ON TRUDGING THE SNOW DOWN

KEEP ON STANDING STRONG

KEEP SOME FIRE IN YOUR BELLY

AND IF IT HELPS, A SONG

IN THE WINTER LONG AGO

MARIAN

MARIAN.

LONG AGO THE WORLD SEEMED WARMER

LONG AGO THE WORLD SEEMED KIND

LONG AGO I FELT MUCH BRAVER

SOMEWHERE I WAS LEFT BEHIND

NOWADAYS THE BLEAK MIDWINTER

SEEMS TO LAST THE WHOLE YEAR ROUND

STOKE A FIRE, LIGHT A CANDLE

DRAW A BREATH AND STAND YOUR GROUND

COMPANY

COMPANY.

AND IF YOU WANT TO DO SOME GOOD

THEY DRIVE YOU OUT INTO THE WOOD

SO HIDE YOUR FACE BENEATH A HOOD

AND STAND YOUR GROUND!

BERRY ( MARIAN) I’m hungry.

MARIAN. I know.

CLOVE. I’m cold.

MARIAN. Take my shawl then. That’s beautiful, Nutmeg. Parsnip – can you help him?

LITTLE JOHN MARIAN

LITTLE JOHN. Marian? We’re almost out of oats. What’s left is starting to turn.

MARIAN. I know, John – I know.

LITTLE JOHN. Even the acorns are going.

MARIAN. We’ll find something. Robin will think of –

LITTLE JOHN. Robin?

MARIAN. We always think of something.

LITTLE JOHN. I don’t know how much longer we’ll last out here. If the weather stays like this –

PLUM. It’s Robin! He’s back!

MARIAN ( LITTLE JOHN) You see. We’ll get it sorted.

ROBIN WILL SCARLETT

CHILDREN.

KEEP ON TRUDGING THE SNOW DOWN

KEEP ON STANDING TALL

KEEP SOME COURAGE INSIDE YOU

AND IF YOU’RE FEELING SMALL

KNOW WE ALL WERE LONG AGO

ROBIN

ROBIN

LONG AGO THE WORLD SEEMED BRIGHTER

LONG AGO THE WORLD HAD CHEER

NEVER MEANT TO BE A FIGHTER

NEVER MEANT TO END UP HERE

SO WE FACE ANOTHER WINTER

SOMEHOW BLEAKER THAN BEFORE

SOMEHOW NEEDED MORE THAN EVER

SOMEHOW ALWAYS NEEDING MORE

COMPANY.

AND WHEN YOU TRY TO DO SOME GOOD

THEY DRIVE YOU OUT INTO THE WOOD

SO HIDE YOUR FACE BENEATH A HOOD

AND GO TO WAR!

KEEP ON TRUDGING THE SNOW DOWN

KEEP ON STANDING PROUD

KEEP SOME HOPE FOR THE SUMMER

AND RAISE YOUR VOICE OUT LOUD!

KEEP ON TRUDGING THE SNOW DOWN

KEEP ON STANDING STRONG

KEEP SOME FIRE IN YOUR BELLY

AND IF IT HELPS, A SONG

IN THE WINTER LONG AGO

LITTLE JOHN. Robin, can I have a word?

ROBIN. Can’t stop – got to get back to the hunt. Who’s coming with me?

PARSNIP. I will.

PARTRIDGE. Me too.

LITTLE JOHN. You’ve not caught anything yet then?

ROBIN. No, but I have faith.

MARIAN. I’ll fetch my bow.

ROBIN. No, someone needs to stay with the little ones.

SPROUT. I’m not a baby.

MARIAN. And I’m not a babysitter.

ROBIN. We won’t be long. But we need to go now, while there’s still some light.

MARIAN () Fine. I’ll… keep the fire going, I suppose.

CLOVE ( ROBIN) What will you hunt?

ROBIN. Hare, maybe. A pheasant if we’re lucky.

PLUM. A duck?

PEAR. A goose?

PLUM. A wild boar?

PEAR. A trifle?

PLUM. You can’t hunt trifle, stupid.

PEAR. Can’t you?

PLUM. No, you only get them in summer.

ROBIN. We’re going to do our best, I promise you that. Come on.

ROBIN PARSNIP PARTRIDGE MUCH

BERRY ( MARIAN) Tell us again about the feast at the castle.

MARIAN. Ah yes, the Feast of Fools.

MUCH. Everyone in the parish gets invited – they’ll come from miles around.

SCARLETT. What if we didn’t go?

PEAR. Why wouldn’t we go?

SCARLETT. What if we went to protest it instead?

MARIAN. Then you wouldn’t get any dinner.

SCARLETT. You know why they do it – why they invite us?

BERRY. Because it’s Christmas?

SCARLETT. Because it’s a bribe. Let the peasants inside the castle one day a year so we don’t storm it the other three hundred and sixty-four. ( MARIAN) Am I wrong?

MARIAN. You can stay here, if you’d prefer to.

SCARLETT. Is that it?

MARIAN. It’s a free meal. No one should feel guilty about taking food when they’re hungry.

SCARLETT

SPROUT. What will they give us?

MUCH. Oh, mutton, beef, turkey, chicken, pheasant, grouse –

PLUM. Swan.

CLOVE. Really?

PLUM. Yeah. A whole swan on a stick each, that’s what I heard.

PEAR. Last year there was even leftovers.

NUTMEG. What’s leftovers?

PEAR. It’s when you have so much food you can’t even finish it all at once.

CLOVE. Marian! Pear’s making things up again.

MARIAN. You’ll be well fed. That’s all that matters.

COMPANY.

WHAT CAN I GIVE HIM?

POOR AS I AM

IF I WERE A SHEPHERD

I WOULD BRING A LAMB

IF I WERE A WISE MAN

I WOULD DO MY PART

BUT WHAT I CAN I GIVE HIM

GIVE HIM MY –

THE SHERIFF OF NOTTINGHAM SAGE ONION EGG NOG

SHERIFF. Halt!

Well, well, well, what do we have here?

SAGE () Children.

SHERIFF. Yes.

ONION. And an old woman.

SHERIFF. Yes, that’s –

EGG. And some sticks.

SHERIFF. Yes, yes, thank you. It was rhetorical.

EGG. Some rhetorical sticks.

SHERIFF. No, that’s –

NOG. Well, well, well, if it isn’t a bunch of rhetoricals.

SHERIFF. Quiet! ( MARIAN) Now, madam, would you kindly state your business here?

MARIAN. And what business is that of yours?

SHERIFF. Forgive me. My name is Nicholas Delancy, newly appointed Sheriff of Nottingham – of which these woods – Sher-wood, the Sheriff’s Woods, in their old parlance – fall under my jurisdiction. So, I ask again, what brings you here?

LITTLE JOHN. These woods are free land.

SHERIFF. No, they belong to King and Crown, and I am now their trusted warden. Answer.

MARIAN. We mean no trouble, sir. I’m merely keeping these children entertained.

ONION. Smells funny to me.

SCARLETT. That’ll just be your breath.

ONION. Oi – that’s assault – that’s verbal assault – I’ll have you for that.

SCARLETT. Just try it.

MARIAN. Everyone stay calm.

SHERIFF. What is all this? What are you making?

NUTMEG. Ooh – I’m doing a birdhouse –

SPROUT

SPROUT. This one’s for my mum. It’s –

EGG. A weapon! It’s got a...