When it comes to writing pantomimes, Alex Hall likes to try something a little different, and this year he has created a brand-new script for Scunthorpe Little Theatre Club’s 2026 pantomime Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood.
At first sight, The Babes in the Wood isn’t the obvious choice for an average pantomime. Originally, it was a medieval folktale first written down in the late 1500s – and it’s brief. Two children are orphaned and placed in the care of their uncle. If they die, he will inherit their fortune. He sends them on a journey with instructions to their guards to kill them on the way. The kinder-hearted guard stops his colleague from killing them and tells them to wait in the forest until he returns with food. They wander the woods until they lie down under a tree and die, and birds cover their bodies with leaves.
No fairies, no magic, no happy ending – and given how short it is, not much to work with either. But the tragic story appealed to early pantomime writers, and the first version of the story was staged in 1793 as The Children in the Wood. In this version, the children survived, but other versions right up until the early 20th century actually kept the unhappy ending. However, in the 1860s, Robin Hood was first introduced to the story to rescue the children.
It’s not known why Robin was chosen to go with the Babes in the Wood – pantomimes featuring the Robin Hood stories on their own had been produced since the late 1700s. Perhaps it was simply because they were both associated with woods, and the original story needed a stronger story and familiar characters to build it up. Combining Robin, Maid Marian and the Merry Men with the tale of two children and their wicked uncle was a popular move. The Robin Hood legend already has a great villain in the character of the Sheriff of Nottingham, and he was the obvious choice to become the Babes’ wicked uncle.
By the 20th century, Robin and his Merry Men were so firmly embedded in the story that the pantomime is almost always called Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood – and it’s this traditional combination (albeit with a twist or two) that will be brought to life by Scunthorpe Little Theatre Club.
Catch Robin at The Plowright Theatre, Laneham Street, DN15 6JT at 7.00pm from 14th to 17th January (with a 2.00pm matinee on 17th). Tickets cost £12.00 and are available from 01724 296296 or http://www.scunthorpetheatres.co.uk.