The English folktale of Robin Hood, the famous outlaw who stole from the rich and gave to the poor, has been told and retold for centuries. And like any good story, it has been adapted into not only books, but plays, ballets, operas, video games, comic books, and many movies, from Hollywood features starring hunky actors to a Mel Brooks comedy to a Disney cartoon.
But in Marlow Wyatt’s play Robbin, from the Hood, which runs at .ZACK March 19-29, the hero doesn’t look like Errol Flynn, Kevin Costner, or Russell Crowe. Instead, she’s a 17-year-old Black math genius. And the baddies are greedy corporations and the negative effects of capitalism.
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“It’s about capitalism,” says Wyatt, who is based in L.A. “It’s my protest play. I’ve always loved the Robin Hood story and the theme of everybody rooting for the underdog. But what drew me to the story is capitalism and how it’s really affected America. Seeing it more as an adult and a person who pays bills, I see how this system is like a pyramid scheme. It only benefits the people at the top, the 1 percent. So that’s really what inspired me.”
The question of whether Robin Hood was man or myth has been debated for more than 700 years. The first time he was referenced in literature was in William Langland’s 14th-century poem “Piers Plowman.” The character would later be reinterpreted in ballads and stories, most popularly as a skilled archer from Sherwood Forest who, with his band of Merry Men, fought against the evil Prince John and Sheriff of Nottingham to keep them from unfairly taxing his people. Who Robin Hood really was is anyone’s guess. But as a historical figure who stood for equality and against tyranny—the original social justice warrior—his popularity has endured.
Originally from Kansas City, Wyatt has written two previous plays, She and Listen, A Black Woman is Speaking. She began writing Robbin, from the Hood in 2019 as part of a development workshop for L.A.’s Moving Arts Theatre Company. It premiered in November 2024 during the presidential election.
In her play, directed by Soul Siren Playhouse’s Cameron Jamarr, Wyatt substitutes medieval England for an unnamed urban city, where teenage Robbin (Joyous Celestine) lives with her grandfather, Percy (Don McClendon).
“It could be set anywhere,” Wyatt says. “It’s not specific to any state or city. It’s very general to what is happening in cities in America to disenfranchised communities when it comes to the corporations and how they infiltrate those communities.”
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Robbin’s parents are deceased. Her uncle (Trials Davis) is in prison. She’s been raised by her grandfather, who uses a wheelchair and is suffering from dementia. But Robbin is good with numbers, so she and her best friend, Juan (Brandon Ortiz), a budding artist, land summer jobs at Kennedy Global, a multi-billion dollar company that wants to improve its diversity profile and “looks like if Microsoft, Disney, and Amazon had merged.” The company has its hands in all kinds of businesses and investments, including community centers. Robbin and Juan think their jobs are their ticket out of poverty. But after Robbin discovers how the company really makes its profits, she exposes its wrongdoings and tries to keep the community centers from shuttering.
“The play has Robin Hood energy,” Wyatt says. “And I want people who see the play to be entertained and have a sense of relief. But I also want them to walk away empowered and to understand that the government and corporations work for us. They’re trying to control a narrative that nobody is believing. I want them to sit down and have a conversation about their everyday lives, and how the system affects them and that there is something they can do about it. I want them to think about how they can participate in capitalism, but more so, that they can do something other than protest about it, scream about it, and do a TikTok about it.”
Robbin, from the Hood runs March 19-29 at .ZACK (3224 Locust). Tickets are $10-25 and available online.
