The Chesil Theatre, Winchester, is calling all Merry Men, and Merry Women, for their summer production, Robin Hood. 
 
Following the success of Three Musketeers in 2014, they are returning to the gardens of Wolvesey Palace with the swashbuckling adventures of Robin and his Merry Men.
 
Weary from The Crusades, Robin of Loxley returns to Nottingham to marry his childhood sweetheart, Lady Marion, and claim his family inheritance. Instead he finds a much changed country where the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham and his henchman, Sir Guy of Gisbourne, ride roughshod over the lives and freedoms of the citizens. Can Robin, aided by his new comrades and the plucky Lady Marion, bring peace and justice back? All their archery and sword fighting skills will be put to the test if they are to succeed.
 
Audiences can expect the unexpected and lots of laughs in this version, written by Jonathan Edgington, which cleverly combines the traditional elements of the legend with exciting new material.
 
Jonathan, a Chesil member, (middle in the photograph) has written 26 plays which have been performed in diverse and interesting locations all over the world.
 
"There are more than 30 characters to cast," said Director, Martin Humphrey, "with lots of opportunities for actors of all ages. "Rehearsals will be great fun, especially the ones where we practise with the swords and the bows and arrows!"
 
Reading Friday April 1st
Auditions Sunday April 2nd and Monday April 3rd
All at 7.45pm at the Chesil Theatre
Newcomers are always welcome.

Juno and the Paycock, one of Sean O'Casey's great plays, gets a fine
performance from the Chesil Theatre this week.
Cecily O'Neill's production is very appropriate, coming as it does in
the centenary year of the Easter Rising in Dublin. Written just two
years after the Rising, it reminds us of the terrible costs of war,
whether civil or world-wide.
There is one excellent scene where an IRA man comes to arrest a family
member. We do not see his face, he is dressed in the raincoat and hat of
the time but this man never ceases to be threatening, though only on the
stage for seconds.
The play brilliantly sets up the atmosphere of a Dublin tenemment, the
talk, the workshys,  the difficulties women have to make ends meet.
Friends Joxer and 'Captain' Jack Boyle fall out and  fall in, Juno,
Jack's wife, is constantly occupied with coping with her loquacious
husband.
The play is very funny and indeed there is a Dublin sing-song where
family members are cajoled to get up and do the party priece - including
a brilliant rendering from Mrs Madigan (Heather Bradford) in  particular.
But through the banter and the laughter, all highly enjoyable, the
dreaded cost of enmity gradually seeps through and in the end the Boyle
family suffers greatly.
A very satisfying play - with memorable performances,  an impressive set
and costumes.
The Chesil actors rise to the occasion with these not-to-be-missed
performances - Michael Goron and Steve Clark as the constantly warring
friends, Jack and Joxer; Rachel O'Neill as Juno, the Dublin matriarch
who cannot escape the tragedy, Judith Frank as the tragic Mrs Tancred,
on her way to her son's funeral, plus a wonderfully reptilian
performance by Andrew Jenks, intent on gaining the hand of Mary, the
Boyle's daughter(Tania Casey)  who can only see a bright future.
The play runs to 19 March.
 
John Docherty.