Marian, or The True Tale of Robin Hood: Teen Edition

by Adam Szymkowicz

A gender-bending, patriarchy-smashing, hilarious new take on the classic tale, adapted for performance by teen actors for family audiences. Robin Hood is (and has always been) Maid Marian in disguise, and leads a motley group of Merry Men (few of whom are actually men) against the greedy Prince John. As the poor get poorer and the rich get richer, who will stand for the vulnerable if not Robin? What is the cost of revealing your true self in a time of trouble? Modern concerns and romantic entanglements clash on the battlefield and on the ramparts of Nottingham Castle in this play about selfishness, selflessness, love deferred and the fight. Always the fight. The fight must go on.

Genres: Plays

68 pages, Paperback

Published January 10, 2022

Reviews

[Molly Lazer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need to preface this review by saying that I am not familiar with the full version of the play, only the "teen edition." My understanding is that the author has said that the full version would not be appropriate for teenagers to put on in a high school setting. That said, I enjoyed this script--the humor would play really well on stage and is in nice juxtaposition to the classic story, as are the modern themes about gender, gender presentation, and sexuality. However, I have to wonder what is missing from this version, as it feels really fragmented. The scene jumps happen REALLY fast, and as a director looking for plays to stage, I'd imagine it would have to be done with a very minimalist set to avoid lengthy set changes taking place every few minutes.