MTYP's Robin Hood energetic and stylish, if not quite a bull's-eye

The story of Robin Hood has been told so often you might wonder how much there is left to say about the adventures of Sherwood Forest's most famous denizen.

The Adventures of Robin Hood suggests maybe not that much but you can at least tell the familiar tale with a lot of style.

The show from Scottish theatre company Visible Fictions, playing over the spring break at Manitoba Theatre for Young People, takes a fairly bare bones approach to telling the story of the brigand who steals from the rich and gives to the poor.

The cast is pared down to just two people in playwright Oliver Emanuel's adaptation. Neil Thomas and Daniel Campbell areincredibly energetic performers, playing a host of people (and a wolf) with panache.

The set, designed by Suzie Inglis and director Douglas Irvine, is based around cardboard boxesthat are smartly arranged, flung around the stage, and handled to become everything from the banks of a rushing river to a peaceful village to weapons.

As anyone who's seen Visible Fictions'shows in the past knows (they've been at MTYP recently with a couple of other iconic tales, Jason and the Argonauts in 2011 and The Mark of Zorro in 2013),their approach is storytelling through a sense of creative play.

It requires a lot of imagination on the part of the viewer, but the team behind this production gives its audience enough credit and enough visual cues to keep up with the quickly paced action of the hour-long show.

For all of that, though, The Adventures of Robin Hood never felt quite as adventurous to me as it might have. Anyone who's seen any of the many, many versions of the story will recognize the major beats here (although there is a thoughtful twist at the end that gives a new dimension to one of the story's main characters).

It doesn't take too many chances with the story, and while it offers some very nice bits of physical comedy (the Sheriff of Nottingham's birthday dance party, for example, or his conversation with the wolf who is his pet/best friend), it generally treats its material perhaps a bit too earnestly. It does, though, also touch on worthy themes of fairnessand what really constitutes "good" or "evil."

In doing so, it also takes a couple of fairly dark turns that might make this difficult material for very youngor particularly sensitiveviewers. MTYP recommends it for ages 8 and up, and it isprobably best suited for the over 7 crowd.

Still, it's got enough energy and creativity to it to breathe a bit of new life into a familiar story. Not quite a bull's-eye, but an entertaining spring break outing to Sherwood Forest.

MTYP announces 2016-17 season

Manitoba Theatre for Young People has also recently unveiled its upcoming season. Here's what's ahead at MTYP:

Alligator Pie (Oct. 28-Nov. 6): Based on Dennis Lee's much-loved poems, this adaptation comes from the top-notch Toronto theatre company Soulpepper. This version promises song, poetryand fun with bubble wrap.

Routes (Nov. 18-19): Canadian playwright Collin Doyle's award-winning solo play for teen audiences focuses on a teenager tracing the routes of the places he's lived, and the violence he's seen there.

The Jungle Book (Dec. 9-30): In this adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's classic, a cast of five actors takes on more than 20 roles in telling the story of a young boy raised by his animal friends in the jungle, and facing off against the villainous tiger Shere Khan.

Dib and Dob and the Journey Home (Jan. 27-Feb. 5 2017): This is the story of two siblings lost in the woods long enough that they've created their own language, but they're still trying to find their way home. It's co-written by Robert Morgan and David S. Craig, the latter the playwright behind the hit Danny, King of the Basement.

Mess (Feb. 17-26): This acclaimed play for teens by Olivier Award-nominated British playwright Caroline Horton examines issues of anorexia, obsession and addiction.

Where the Wild Things Are (Mar. 17-30): Last seen at MTYP in 2012, this immersive adaptation of the Maurice Sendak classic lets the kids in the audience help create the world of Max, who goes from being sent to his room without supper to ruling over the Wild Things.

Greteland Hansel(Apr. 21-29): The familiar fairy tale becomes a story of sibling rivalry in this production, performed in both English and French byMontreal's Le Carrousel.