Robin Hood – Did You Know?

Thought you knew everything there was to know about Robin Hood? We’ve got some fun trivia for you…

1) Robin Hood will always be associated with the city of Nottingham, but sources place him in many counties in England. Robin Hood Airport is actually in Doncaster, in South Yorkshire. Confusing, isn’t it?

2) The School of History at Nottingham University offers students the chance to study Robin Hood as part of its MA History course.

3) Our Artistic Director, Chris Honer, directed Robin Hood and the Raven’s Revenge in 1991. The actor who played Robin, Tom Higgins, sustained an injury in a dress rehearsal and had to miss the first two weeks of the run. Our budget doesn’t stretch to understudies, so Renny Krupinski – the fight director for this year’s Wanted! Robin Hood – stood in as Robin for a fortnight!

4) The Robin Hood story has been a regular subject for film-makers, but the first Robin Hood film was made way back in 1922, and starred legendary Hollywood figure Douglas Fairbanks in the title role. He also helped write the screenplay.

5) Natural England, the government agency whose remit is safeguarding the country’s natural environment, declared Sherwood Forest a National Nature Reserve in 2002. The forest, which includes some of the oldest living trees in Europe, stages an annual Robin Hood Festival every August.

6) Monty Python had a Robin Hood sketch – their Robin Hood was called Dennis Moore. Instead of robbing from the rich to give to the poor, Dennis (played by Michael Palin) robbed from the poor to give to the rich!

7) And finally, and inevitably perhaps, the official mascot of Nottingham Forest Football Club is Robin Hood.

Wanted! Robin Hood runs until Sat 11 Jan 2014 at The Lowry. You can book tickets online here or from The Lowry Box Office on 0843 208 6010.