Round House Theatre Opens YOUNG ROBIN HOOD World Premiere Tonight

Round House Theatre offers swashbuckling fun for the entire family this holiday season with the world premiere of Young Robin Hood by Jon Klein, which runs November 28 thru December 30. Derek Goldman directs this stirring new take on the legendary adventure story. Opening night is tonight, December 3, 2012.

King Richard is off on the Crusades and Nottingham is at the mercy of the evil and corrupt Sheriff, who twists the law and persecutes the poor. When his father is falsely accused of a crime and imprisoned, impetuous teenager Robin, already a skilled archer and swordsman, has to grow up fast and devise a rescue. Friendship is tested and new alliances are formed as Robin fights against tyranny and injustice, with the unexpected help of the Sheriff's feisty daughter Marion.

"What I love about Jon's play is that it works on one level for kids and on another level for adults," said Producing Artistic Director Ryan Rilette. "Kids will see only a swashbuckling adventure story about the triumph of good over evil. But adults will also recognize this as a parable about the inequity between those who have and those who don't ? something that feels incredibly relevant now given the national discourse over the 99% and the 1% over the last year."

Featuring: Jeff Allin, Laura C. Harris, Davis Chandler Hasty, Mitchell Hébert, Joe Isenberg, Emma Jaster, JJ Kaczynski, Kimberly Schraf, Sean Silvia, Allie Villarreal, and Craig Wallace.

Creative team: scenic designer Misha Kachman, costume designer Ivania Stack, lighting designer Kenton Yeager, composer/sound designer Matthew M. Nielson, props master Andrea Moore, fight choreographer Casey Kaleba, choreographer Emma Jaster and stage manager Maribeth Chaprnka.

Tickets range in price from $10 to $61 and may be purchased by calling 240.644.1100, by ordering online at www.roundhousetheatre.org, or at Round House's box office in Bethesda. Tickets for kids and everyone age 30 and under are just $10 and $15. Round House Theatre Bethesda is located at 4545 East-West Highway, one block from Wisconsin Avenue and the Bethesda station on Metro's Red Line. Young Robin Hood is recommended for age 8 and above.

Young Robin Hood runs now thru December 30, 2012 with performances on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday at 8pm; and matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 3pm. Opening night is Monday, December 3. Please note: there are no performances on Tuesday, December 4; Tuesday, December 25; and Thursday evening, December 27. Holiday week schedule: performances have been added on Wednesday, December 26 at 3pm, Thursday, December 27 at 2pm, and Friday, December 29 at 3pm.

SPECIAL FAMILY EVENT ON DECEMBER 27
On Thursday, December 27, families can join Robin and Marion at the 2pm holiday performance of Young Robin Hood and then enjoy such special post-show activities as food, sword fighting demonstrations, arts projects, and much more with members of Robin's merry band. Tickets for this special family event are $50 per person and are available online or by calling the Round House box office.

AUDIENCE EVENTS

Designer Discussion (with the costume, set, lighting, and sound designers): Wednesday, November 28 at 6:45pm

Director Discussion (with Derek Goldman): Friday, November 30 at 7:15pm

Audio-described performance: Saturday, December 8 at 3pm

Post-Show Talkbacks: Wednesday, November 28 thru Sunday, December 2, Sunday, December 9, and Sunday, December 16

Parents' Matinee: Sunday, December 9 at 3pm. Patrons can drop off children (ages 3-12, must be potty trained) to an RHT teaching artist while they're seeing the show at this designated Sunday matinee. The kids enjoy a fun-filled afternoon of theatre games and arts activities. Childcare reservations are required in advance by 5pm on December 5 by calling 240.644.1100.

Sign-interpreted performance: Saturday, December 15 at 3pm. Reservations for sign interpreting services must be made by December 1.

Jon Klein (Playwright) is the author of over twenty produced plays, produced Off-Broadway and at many prestigious regional theatres, including Actors Theatre of Louisville, Arena Stage in D.C., Arden Theatre in Philadelphia, Center Stage in Baltimore, South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, ALLIANCE THEATRE in Atlanta, Alley Theatre in Houston, A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle, Seattle Children's Theatre, and many others. He is probably best known for his play T Bone N Weasel, which has received over a hundred productions at regional theatres throughout the US, and which he adapted for a TNT Network film, starring Gregory Hines and Christopher Lloyd. T Bone N Weasel received several awards after its premiere at the Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville, including an HBO Playwrights USA Award. Jon is also the author of the only authorized stage adaptation of the famous children's book Bunnicula by James and Deborah Howe, which has received over a hundred productions in the US and Canada, including a national tour.

Dimly Perceived Threats to the System (finalist for the American Theatre Critics' Association Award, at Arena Stage, South Coast Rep and many others) and Betty the Yeti (another entry at the Humana Festival in Louisville) also continue to be frequently produced. Two of his newest plays, Suggestibility and Wishing Well, recently premiered at the Victory Theatre in Burbank. Other plays that have received major productions around the country include Octopus (Contemporary American Theatre Festival, WV), Peoria (Woolly Mammoth Theatre, DC), Southern Cross (ALLIANCE THEATRE, Atlanta), The Einstein Project (co-authored with Paul D'Andrea, at Berkshire Theatre Festival, Stockbridge), Four Our Fathers (A Contemporary Theatre, Seattle), The Red and the Black (adaptation of the Stendhal novel, also at A Contemporary Theatre), and Losing It (winner of the Dramatists Guild/CBS New Play Award, Off-Broadway and at Wisdom Bridge Theatre, Chicago)

Derek Goldman (Director) is Artistic Director of the Davis Performing Arts Center and Professor of Theater and Performance Studies at Georgetown University. He is an award-winning stage director, playwright, adapter, developer of new work, teacher, and published scholar, whose artistic work has been seen around the country, Off-Broadway and at numerous major regional theaters, as well as internationally. He is also Founding Artistic Director of the StreetSigns Center for Literature and Performance, an award-winning professional theatre founded in Chicago. Under his leadership, StreetSigns was named by the Chicago Sun-Times as "the most exciting company to emerge in Chicago since John Cusack's New Criminals"; by the New York Times as "one of Chicago's top theater companies"; and, after its move to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, by The Spectator as "the region's leading producer of cutting-edge work." His plays have been published by Samuel French, and his adaptations and productions of works by Agee, Beckett, Brecht, Chekhov, DeLillo, James, Lorca, Shakespeare, Wilder, and others have received numerous awards. He received his Ph. D. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University.

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