When poets attempt to cross over into other literary genres, their craft may not immediately adapt to the unfamiliar configurations of their new endeavor. Even as accomplished a versifier as Alfred, Lord Tennyson—England's Poet Laureate from 1850 to 1892 and author of the seminal epic, "Idylls of the King" chronicling the Arthurian Cycle—can emerge a thorough amateur at recounting the adventures of another English hero for the stage.
The scenario of his play, Robin Hood and Maid Marian, revolves around domestic upheaval following King Richard's neglecting his royal duties while on crusade, leaving the governorship of his realm to his brother, Prince John, whose ruthless exploitation of the citizenry is abetted by the self-serving Sheriff of Nottingham. Opposing these bullies is the deposed Earl of Huntington, who joins up with a band of outlaws living in the Sherwood forest, where they proceed to rob those made rich through the false monarch's deceitful machinations, re-distributing their plunder among the disenfranchised. These victims include a father threatened with property foreclosure, whose daughter, the beautiful Maid Marian—beloved of the Earl, now called "Robin Hood"—is being urged to cancel the debt by marrying the sheriff. Victorian plays were more elaborate than those we see today, constructed on a scale encompassing multiple plot-lines, spectacular scenic effects, and a wide tonal range appealing to audiences representing a diversity of social classes. Tennyson observes these conventions, contrasting the lofty romantic ideals of Robin and Marian with the earthier courtship customs of their servants, the drollery of the commoners and the depravity of the villains. His language likewise hearkens to that of Shakespeare, with the gentry's philosophical discussions conducted in blank verse and the rustics' comic patter in prose vernacular. Why the Forks and Hope Ensemble chose this cumbersome script over the more actor-friendly, 15th-century Robin Hood texts remains a mystery, since the limits of the company's budget and talent pool make for initial confusion as we acclimate to the cross-gender casting and to Austin Oie's songs melding lyrics composed by Arthur Sullivan (of "Gilbert and" fame) for the original production and melodies arranged for western folk guitar and slurring Midwestern accents. Tennyson's delicate period sensibilities are all but eclipsed by such slapstick material as Irma Vep-style lightning costume changes and woodland birds replicated by a trio of brawny whistlers garbed in penguin caps. The overall impression is that of an end-of-the-semester student romp striving for the camp burlesque of Mel Brooks or Monty Python, but not yet wholly committed to its aesthetic of raucous irreverence.
