SHERWOOD:
THE ADVENTURES
OF ROBIN HOOD
by Ken Ludwig
directed by John DiAntonio
June 25 – September 10, 2022 | Ruth Humphreys Brown Theatre
Action packed fun for the whole family…
Packed with thrills, romance, laughter, and immortal characters like Little John, Friar Tuck, and Maid Marian, Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood tells the enduring story of a hero of the people who takes on the ruthless powers that be. So get ready to duck a quarterstaff – or two – you won’t want to miss a moment of the swashbuckling fun!
Adventure, Romance, Family Friendly
Content Advisory
This play contains some mild language, macabre descriptions of death, depictions of alcohol consumption, copious bows and arrows, and sword-fighting in the style of Errol Flynn. The front rows, especially seats in the 200 range, are very close to the action!
Please see CRT’s complete list of Content Advisories and Trigger Warnings for additional information.
ASL-INTERPRETED PERFORMANCES
CRT is proud to present ASL-interpreted performances. Please see the complete list of ASL-interpreted performances here for dates and additional information.
COVID-19 Safety
Please read CRT’s COVID-19 Safety Protocols prior to attending any CRT performance. Many factors went into crafting these rules – your health and safety, and that of our staff and artists, was of the utmost importance. These protocols may change periodically based on government mandates and/or requirements from the performers’ union. Thank you for your support and understanding as we navigate new territory together!
MEET THE ARTISTS
Ken Ludwig
Playwright
Ken Ludwig has had six shows on Broadway, seven in London’s West End, and many of his works have become a standard part of the American repertoire. His 28 plays and musicals have been performed in over 30 countries in more than 20 languages and are produced throughout the United States every night of the year. Lend Me a Tenor won two Tony Awards and was called “one of the classic comedies of the 20th century by The Washington Post. Crazy For You was on Broadway for five years and won the Tony and Olivier Awards for Best Musical. In addition, he has won the Edgar Award for Best Mystery of the Year, two Laurence Olivier Awards, two Helen Hayes Awards, and the Edwin Forrest Award for Contributions to the American Theater. His plays have starred, among others, Alec Baldwin, Carol Burnett, Tony Shaloub, Joan Collins, and Hal Holbrook. His stage version of Murder on the Orient Express was written expressly at the request of the Agatha Christie Estate, and his latest play, Dear Jack, Dear Louise, won the 2020 Charles MacArthur Award for Best New Play of the Year and is optioned for Broadway. His book How To Teach Your Children Shakespeare, published by Penguin Random House, won the Falstaff Award for Best Shakespeare Book of the Year, and his essays are published in the Yale Review. He is a graduate of Harvard and Cambridge and is a frequent guest speaker for groups as varied as The Oxford-Cambridge Society, The Jane Austen Society of North America, The Folger Shakespeare Library, and The Baker Street Irregulars.
John DiAntonio
Director
John DiAntonio was appointed Producing Artistic Director of Creede Repertory Theatre in 2019, guiding the organization through the pandemic when the 2020 season was canceled and producing CRT’s first-ever outdoor season in 2021. He managed to keep the staff on as full-time employees during the pandemic while raising money to sustain the theatre through the next year. He has continued to bring in numerous grants and new donors to support CRT, helping to raise millions of dollars since joining the staff in 2015. DiAntonio has a passion for developing new work and was fundamental in the creation and development of the Headwaters New Play Festival at CRT. His play, Harry the Great, was the first play workshopped and produced through the Festival. He created the 10-Minute New Play Festival during his second season in 2012. John has acted in nearly 40 shows at CRT and has relished the deep bonds built over that time. Before coming to CRT, he worked for twelve years as an actor, director, and playwright in New York, Los Angeles, and Denver. DiAntonio has had ten original plays produced, including five that have toured around the Southwest. He grew up in Pittsburgh, earning his BA from Case Western University and his MFA from the National Theatre Conservatory. He and his wife, Caitlin, have two sons, Leo and Sebastian, and make their year-round home in Creede.
John DiAntonio
Director’s Note
Welcome to Sherwood Forest! Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood is a story we all know. A simple story about the formation of a community—an ensemble, a team, a band of merry outlaws—bound by a common goal. Sort of like a repertory theatre located in the middle of the San Juan Mountains for the last 57 years. To quote Friar Tuck, “We need to turn back time to the moment when a band of outlaws, friends—outcasts, really—joined together here in Sherwood Forest to change the world, just a mite, one inch, one-one hundredth of an inch, that’s all that any of us can ever hope to accomplish—but we felt the need to fight injustice and want, and to make the world more kind.” After the fragility of these last two years, CRT is here to make the world kinder, one play at a time.
My three-year-old son, Leo, has fallen in love with Disney’s 1973 version of the Robin Hood tale, in which Robin is portrayed as a fox and Little John a bear. Leo is particularly taken by the moment when Lady Kluck, a hen and lady-in-waiting to Maid Marian, stampedes into a group of Nottingham Soldiers (a bunch of rhinoceroses) during the archery tournament. You won’t find charging Rhinos or fighting Chickens in our production, but I hope the feeling of magical excitement will be the same. For you are our denizens of Sherwood Forest. I hope you’ll join our community of outlaws to make the world more kind. Welcome.