The Men of Sherwood are in Cahoots to steal your heart

 

The Men of Sherwood are in Cahoots to steal your heart

By: Kori Fay

Going into this play, I’ll be honest, I knew nothing about it. But, like others in the Metro-Detroit area, I know Zettelmaier’s work, and I knew I was in for a treat. And I was correct! The Men of Sherwood (world premiere) is nothing but 85 minutes of laughing, bickering, fighting, and heart. Zettelmaier (playwright) and Michael Alan Herman (director) have meshed in a way that takes this old tale and makes it new, exciting, and fresh for even the most uneducated of Robinhood fans (me). Using inventive theatre-in-the-round blocking and staging, this story really comes to life. Not to mention the breath of life that these actors breathe into these characters, I felt I knew them when I hadn’t yet. Regardless of if you know the story of Robinhood and his men, you will really enjoy this play. You get to see these brothers, essentially, re-live tales of their glory days, love on each other as only true fra-mily members can do (that’s friend and family), and handle the loss of their great leader. I think, beneath it all, it is about grief and how we keep carrying on when the weight in your chest feels like it’ll never lift. How we grow around that weight, and find people to lift it now and again to make it just a little lighter…even though it’s still there. It’s about love and community and knowing that no matter how long you leave a place you love or people you love, you are always welcomed right back in with a hug and a glass (or bottles) of wine.

Will Meyers starts us off as Abbot Edward Tuck, an actor and character full of mirth, taking and directing scenes with ease. He seems to be the mastermind behind the meeting of all the men, and is almost fatherly with his friends. I enjoyed the resonance and timbre of these men's voices, they filled the new space Penny Seats is using in Cahoots very well and clear and nothing was missed. Andy Jones as Sir Alan Clare seems well lived in in his character, playing the different sides well, as instruments that left me in awe. Joel Mitchell as John Little came in with a bang, and never stopped. I smiled every time he opened his mouth and the way Zettelmaier has written this character and his stories that he tells really jumps off the page and into the seat next to you, making it feel like a campfire story. Jonathan Davidson was almost snake-like in his interpretation of the moody, brooding William Gamwell, weaving in and out of the men and the stage both physically and verbally. Another stellar voice.

The set (Ray Buchalter), though minimal for the in-the-round show, gives us time and place and everything was used with ease. The fight choreography was done by Jen Pan and was interesting and complex with quarterstaff and quarter of a quarterstaff. I was engaged the whole time with the fighting, and I know it is especially difficult in the round to do stage combat, but this was done really well. The rest of the design team: Sydney Geysbeek (lights), Julia Garlotte (sound), Charlie Cato (props), Josie Eli Herman (costumes), all come together to create a beautiful piece of art all run beautifully by stage manager Sara Kadish Beckett.

I recommend seeing this play before it leaves because it IS a World Premier, and who DOESN’T want to say they saw it first? If you’re looking for heart this holiday season, look no further than The Men of Sherwood.

The Men of Sherwood runs November 22-December 8th at Cahoots in Downtown Ann Arbor.