The Ballad of Robin Hood (Southwark Playhouse)

Tacit Theatre's latest production The Ballad of Robin Hood, is an 'immersive' reworking of Robin Hood which invites audiences into the Tabard Inn to indulge in an evening of tales as tall as the trees of Sherwood Forest.

Really though, Greg Freeman's show is more in-the-round than immersive, as the audience sit back while the actors mill in the tavern. But Freeman does create just the right atmosphere: the smell of mulled wine pervades the space while music and action weave together in the telling of many different stories about Robin Hood – the trickster and mystery man who steals from the rich to give to the poor.

As an injured Robin Hood stumbles into the inn, a debate rages over whether to help the outlaw or not. Panto-like baddie Tom Daplyn as the sheriff can't wait to hand him over to the King in reward for "one of the 'Shires" but the other punters are eager find out a little more about the man under the hood before they let him slip away. They take it in turns to tell the myths they have heard and we're taken from Southwark to Sherwood Forest to the Tower of London and back again.

At surface level, The Ballad of Robin Hood could be seen as not much more than a funny, often thrilling night out that would be an enjoyable watch for the kids. But dig a little deeper and there are clever references peppered throughout. "There are too many migrants", the Sheriff booms, "all foreigners do is come over here and drink – that's not the English way". They are lines that provoke jeers from the audience. As Maid Marion declares ""do you have any idea what it's like to be a refugee in a foreign land?", it becomes clear this isn't a Robin Hood stuck in the 1300s.

Marion (a feisty Dora Rubinstein) has also been bought up to speed and is very much a 2015 no-nonsense gal. She castigates Robin for patting her bottom and won't accept not being given a fair fight simply because she is a woman. Launching herself down a rope in the final climatic scene she even has time to pull up Robin for missing their date as she fights off a guard for him (no damsel in distress here).

The Ballad of Robin Hood is an amusing way to spend an evening and is a heart-warming take on the man behind the legend. Offering a nice alternative to a pantomime, there are no custard pies here – only an evening of attitude and sword-play in a topical, refreshed re-telling.

The Ballad of Robin Hood runs at Southwark Playhouse until 26 December.