For the first of their two shows this year, Centennial’s Skyward Theatre chose Ken Ludwig’s Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood as their Fall Play.
Apart from being a lighthearted and laughter-filled comedy, Sherwood has been described as an entertaining mix of thrills, romance, and the adventures of a tight-knit group of friends.
In terms of the story itself, the backdrop of the play follows English King Richard the Lionheart who embarked on the famous Third Crusade, a campaign aimed to take back the holy city of Jerusalem. While Richard is gone, his evil regent King John mistreats the civilians of England, heavily taxing them to the point of starvation.
The hero of the story, Robin Hood, grew up rich, but seeing how the government was poorly treating his fellow citizens, he could not just sit back and do nothing. As Jacob Traver, the director of Skyward Theatre, puts it, “Robin Hood is a character who is a little bit of a young, kind of rascal character who decides one day that he is going to kind of fight for the common man.”
The play follows Robin Hood and his band of merry men: Little John, Marian, and Deorwyn as they combat the tyranny of King John, experiencing an amazing adventure along the way.
Sherwood as a performance by Skyward marks a step in a new direction by the company. Sherwood is the first “true comedy” as Traver puts it, that Centennial High School has put on in a long time.
The Fall Play last year, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, had some comedic scenes, but it had a slightly darker focus and delved on themes such as the effects of colonization. The Spring 2025 musical, Little Women, also had some comedic elements, but at the end of the day, it was a coming of age story focused on the familial ties and bonds of the March family.
Sherwood, on the other hand, is a show that is explicitly set on making the audience laugh.
The setting of the play will be sure to appeal to the audience as well. The set will reflect medieval times by containing castles, knights, and trees that define a romantic medieval landscape. The idea of castles, giant trees, and other intricate medieval-esque settings allows for the potential of this year’s set designers to shine.
With the majority of the audience composed of high school students, staff, and many other adults, the mature-themed humor of this play will be sure to have them laughing.
“I think students are going to have a fun time just kind of laughing at those jokes because they aren’t the most kid-friendly jokes all the time,” says Traver.
Sherwood is the kind of play that keeps you laughing while reminding you why Robin Hood’s adventure-filled story is still so fun to watch. Sherwood is sure to be a standout performance by Skyward Theatre and Mr. Traver this fall!
Make sure to catch the show on November 13th, 14th, 15th, or the 16th.
