Robin Hood can refer to the legendary character of "Robin Hood" and his band of outlaws, or to the many dramatized versions of the stories and fables featuring him.

Plays based on the stories of Robin Hood

A vast number of poems, plays, novels, films, comics and so on have been based on the tales of Robin Hood over the years.

Listed here are plays, pantomimes and other versions of the tales, written by South African authors, performed in South Africa, or with other South African connections.

Translations and adaptations

Robin Hood by Henry Hamilton and William Devereux

Robin Hood was a four-act play written by Henry Hamilton and William Devereux (1869 or 1870-1945) in 1906. First produced at the Lyric Theatre, London, on 17th October 1906, (with Lewis Waller as "Robin" and William Devereux playing "King John"), it had 163 performances, and was then taken on tour by the lead actor Lewis Waller's Company, touring, playing inter alia at the Grand Theatre, Leeds, 28th October 1907.

Robin Hood by Mary Howarth.

Robin Hood by Martin Clohessy and Alfred Rietmann

Robin Hood, a musical by Keith Bain (libretto) and Anton Luitingh (music)

Text and lyrics written by Keith Bain and music by Anton Luitingh. A timeless tale erupts with hoodlums, merry men and royalty. The typed text of the play states that it is copyrighted to Two Man Productions 1998.

A South African adaptation, Robin van der Merwe of Knysna Forest by Norman Coombes (1985)

For more information, see Robin van der Merwe of Knysna Forest.

Performance history in South Africa

1907: Version by Henry Hamilton and William Devereaux presented by Leonard Rayne's New Company at the Opera House, Cape Town (May), Theatre Royal, Durban (June) and His Majesty's Theatre, Johannesburg (August), directed by Lewis Waller.

1908: Version by Henry Hamilton and William Devereaux presented by Leonard Rayne's New Company at the Standard Theatre, Johannesburg (June).

1975: Howarth's version presented at the Bellville Civic Centre, directed by Lionel Kirsten, produced by Derrick Axon.

1986: The version by Martin Clohessy and Alfred Rietmann presented at the Nico Malan Theatre Centre by Just Us Children's Theatre Company, directed by Cindy Just.

1998: Version by Keith Bain and Anton Luitingh performed in the H.B. Thom Theatre, September 1998, directed by Gaerin Hauptfleisch with musical direction by Anton Luitingh, starring Stephanie Hough, Graeme Bootsma, Jenny Stead, Naomi Smit, Minki Burger, Susan Rabe, Alex Marais, André Weideman, Nikki Rowan, Petronel Baard, James Lapping, Rudi van der Merwe, Merlin Balie, Elana Afrika.

Sources

Theatre pamphlet of the 1998 Robin Hood production in Stellenbosch

Copy of the typed text of the play, found in the Stellenbosch Drama Department archives in 2022. (Now held in the Performing Arts Research Collection (PARC) at the Africa Open Institute for Music, Research and Innovation, Stellenbosch.)

Promotional postcard for Robin Hood by Henry Hamilton and William Devereux, Media Storehouse 1907[1].

http://robinhoodtree.blogspot.com/2011/11/robin-hood-1906-stage-play.html

Anthony Munday. 2014. "The Downfall of Robert, Earl of Huntington" in Amnon Kabatchnik. Blood on the Stage, 480 B.C. to 1600 A.D.: Milestone Plays of Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem. Rowman & Littlefield. pp243-361. Go to ESAT Bibliography

Greyvenstein, Walter 1988. The history and development of children's theatre in English in South Africa. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Johannesburg: Rand Afrikaans University.

Go to the ESAT Bibliography