By ALLISON TRUNKEY
Correspondent

PORT GAMBLE — “Robin Hood,” the saucy chap with the sense of social justice who turned Sherwood Forest into a revenue stream for the less fortunate, leads his merry band onto Port Gamble’s stage July 8 –24.

Larry Blamire’s retelling of “Robin Hood” will be performed by the Port Gamble Theater Company, in the North Kitsap town’s century-old theater.

Director Scott Snively said the story will include elements from many tales of the mythic hero (including the Disney film). His wife, assistant director Glenna Snively, said Blamire’s rewrite is “slightly modern,” which “makes things a little more real for this day and age” while staying true to the original stories.

While fusing wit and charm with moments of serious intensity, this production of “Robin Hood” follows the hero as he encounters love, adventure, and a people’s uprising in the time following Richard the Lionheart.

Fifteen actors compose the cast, ranging from first-time performers to experienced professionals.

“We’re a teaching theater,” director Snively said.

The cast includes, in alphabetical order:

• Beth Ely as Queen Eleanor.
• Peter Ely as Eadom/Guy of Gisbourne.
• Mason Enfinger as Will Scarlet.
• Joseph Graves as Robin Hood.
• Jeffrey Groves as the Sheriff of Nottingham.
• Citori Luecht as Marian Harper.
• John McKeever as Riccon Hazel.
• Shawn Montgomery as Little John.
• Braedon Snively as Forester 1.
• Ian Snively as Forester.
• Gerry Thom as King John.

After 11 weeks of rehearsals, the troupe is like family, according to assistant director Glenna Snively. Words on the page are only the starting place; the actors contribute ideas, encouraged by a “free sense of play and a safe environment,” she said.

Citori Luecht, who portrays Marian Harper, dauntless adventuress and Robin Hood’s love interest, said she immediately felt at home at the Port Gamble Theater, where she “met people like me, and that’s never happened before.”

The theater provides a community and also draws from one. According to the director, who helped organize the group six years ago, Port Gamble “has really gotten behind the idea of [the theater].”

Stepping into the theater transports the viewer, if not to an earlier time, at least to a simpler one. Though the current theater company has operated out of the building for six years, 2016 marks 110 years of theater presence in Port Gamble.

Recent past productions include “Around the World in 80 Days,” “Miracle on 34th Street,” “War of the Worlds,” “Sense & Sensibility,” and “Cyrano.”

After “Robin Hood,” look forward to “Clue: The Musical” Oct. 7-23, and “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” Dec. 2-18.

Info: www.portgambletheater.com, www.facebook.com/portgambletheatre or 360-977-7135.

Was Robin Hood real?

“The subject of ballads, books and films, Robin Hood has proven to be one of popular culture’s most enduring folk heroes,” History.com reports.

“Over the course of 700 years, the outlaw from Nottinghamshire who robs from the rich to give to the poor has emerged as one of the most enduring folk heroes in popular culture — and one of the most versatile.”

Did a real Robin Hood inspire these classic tales?

“Academics … have combed the historical record for evidence of a real Robin Hood,” History.com reports.

“English legal records suggest that, as early as the 13th century, ‘Robehod,’ ‘Rabunhod’ and other variations had become common epithets for criminals …

“The first literary references to Robin Hood appear in a series of 14th- and 15th-century ballads about a violent yeoman who lived in Sherwood Forest with his men and frequently clashed with the Sheriff of Nottingham.”

(John Major’s “History of Greater Britain,” published in 1521, depicts Robin Hood as a follower of King Richard.)

History.com continues, “Rather than a peasant, knight or fallen noble, as in later versions, the protagonist of these medieval stories is a commoner. Little John and Will Scarlet are part of this Robin’s ‘merry’ crew — meaning, at the time, an outlaw’s gang — but Maid Marian, Friar Tuck and Alan-a-Dale would not enter the legend until later …”

So, did Robin Hood really exist? History.com: “What we do know is that the notion of a brave rebel who lives on the outskirts of society, fighting injustice and oppression with his band of companions, has universal appeal.”

Famous Robin Hoods

• Douglas Fairbanks, “Robin Hood,” 1922. (Fairbanks won a Medal of Honor at the 1923 Photoplay Awards.)
• Errol Flynn, “The Adventures of Robin Hood” (1938). (This film won Oscars for Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing, and Best Music, Original Score; and was nominated for Best Picture.)
• Richard Greene, “The Adventures of Robin Hood,” 1955-1960. (This TV series gave Greene his greatest fame and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy in 1956 for Best Art Direction.)
• Sean Connery, “Robin and Marion,” 1976. (The film marked Hepburn’s return to the screen after an eight-year absence.)
• Kevin Costner, “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,” 1991. (This film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song. Costner’s Robin Hood garnered him Best Actor nominations from the MTV Movie Awards and the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films; and a Razzie Award for Worst Actor.)
• Russell Crowe, “Robin Hood,” 2010. (This film received the 2011 ASCAP Film and Television Music Award for Top Box Office Film.)