The Little Theatre's next performance is so intense Robin Hood had to pick up a workout routine - it turns out the bow-wielding hero does get tired.
"Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood," directed by Laura Vedenhaupt, is set to take the stage tonight with clashing swords at the Miller Performing Arts Center, 501 Madison St.
The script stays close to the original story of Robin Hood (an outlaw robbing from the rich to give to the poor), but the added humor - courtesy of playwright Ken Ludwig - gives it a fresh spin.
And, it's action packed. Vedenhaupt was drawn to the script when she saw it's potential for an edge-of-your-seat thrill.
"I like to direct shows that I want to see. Not that I don't love seeing everything else that they put on, but I like the shows where you're kind of on the edge of your seat," she said. "It has everything. It has romance, it has drama, it has comedy, it has action. It's kind of the perfect little play."
Perfecting the play has taken hard work from the cast members. Since auditions in late October and rehearsals that began in November, cast members young and old had to learn to stage fight. Vedenhaupt brought in a sword master to teach the correct techniques - ones that look and sound real but don't draw blood.
"He said, 'Our job in this is to make it look terrifying to the audience, but everybody is completely safe,'" Vedenhaupt said. "(The cast) is still working on stuff, but there's certain fight scenes where - I mean, just last week, I had to keep asking one of the guys, 'Are you OK?' - it looked and sounded so real."
"When they get to the point where they terrify the director, I know they're ready for an audience," she added.
The cast will be using swords crafted specifically for stage combat from the California company Weapons of Choice.
And everybody gets to sword fight, "except for the king. King Richard does not get to sword fight," Vedenhaupt laughed.
Jon-Michael Rutter, who plays Robin Hood, is not new to stage fighting (he's acted in TLT's "Treasure Island"), but the 32-year-old had to pick up a workout routine to successfully make it through this production.
"It's intense going from fight to fight to fight to fight and still have a lot of energy in between," he said.
The weapons and the movement, however, were not unfamiliar. Rutter has a background in martial arts as a child.
"What's unfamiliar is not killing somebody," he said, voice dripping with dry humor as he held onto a quarterstaff - his weapon of choice. He called it "wickedly dangerous, but fun."
The dynamic between cast members is quite different now. When they started rehearsing, Vedenhaupt said they were "all kind of tentative" and not a family. As they continued to rehearse, they developed their characters, adding nuances to phrases and movements Vedenhaupt said she hadn't even thought of.
And three days a week of attacking one another with swords probably helped, too.
Vedenhaupt watched the youngest cast member, Hudson Baker, blossom throughout the process. It's Baker's first community theater performance.
"She's out there with her little sword. She's been here every night. She's always early, and I can really see the growth in her just since her auditions," Vedenhaupt said.
The play is comedic, lighthearted and family friendly - it's almost slapstick, she said - but it carries a message with more seriousness.
"Respect and love and friendship - I think that is something that is a very common theme throughout," she said. "Help your friends, support your friends, and eventually things will work out OK."
While Robin Hood does give a rallying speech that shows that message come to life, he's particularly excited for one moment.
"I do want to see what the audience reaction is to our duel," Rutter said "I love feeding off of a crowd."
Doors for "Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood" will open at 7 p.m. today at the Miller Performing Arts Center, and the show starts at 7:30 p.m.
Additional performances are set for 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Admission is $15. Tickets can be bought at tltjc.org/ticketinfo.php. You can also reserve tickets, or ask additional questions, by calling 573-681-9400.