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FAIRFIELD – Fairfield Youth Performing Arts will put on its second production ever this weekend when it debuts “The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood” over four days at the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center.

Audiences can catch the young thespians on their opening night of Thursday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. They will perform at that same time on Friday, Dec. 12 and again on Saturday, Dec. 13, before finishing their run with a Sunday matinee at 3 p.m. on Dec. 14.

Executive Producer Tommy Brower said that, in contrast to the group’s musical “Mary Poppins Jr.” performed this past summer with a large cast of 37 actors because of vocal ensembles, this winter’s production of “The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood” has a smaller cast of 25 since it’s a play.

“Going into auditions, I was worried we would have more auditioners than we had parts, but we literally had 25 kids audition, so we didn’t have to get clever and create new parts or cut anything. It was perfect,” Brower said.

The lead of Robin Hood is portrayed by eighth-grader Liam Robbins, already an experienced performer who played Oliver Twist in FACT’s production of Oliver! in 2024. He also had one of the leading roles in a middle school production of “Newsies.”

“He’s a great kid, and would have been in Mary Poppins but had to miss it for a family vacation,” Brower said. “We were glad to secure Liam’s talents for this show since we missed him terribly in the last one.”

The heroine of the play is Robin Hood’s love interest Maid Marian, played by Thisbe Adkins. Thisbe is fresh off her portrayal of Miss Andrew in Mary Poppins, the old-fashioned nanny to Jane and Michael Banks. Brower said that Thisbe was so impressive in that role that he wanted to showcase her talents even more in Robin Hood. Thisbe is also the daughter of the play’s director, Amber Adkins.

“I acted with Amber and Nathaniel [Adkins] in Oliver, and they were part of the Sowerberrys,” Brower said. “They are absolutely wonderful people, and I’ve become fantastic friends with them.”

Brower mentioned that he and Amber Adkins started this production as co-directors, but it became clear that Amber was ready to take the reins all by herself, leaving Brower time to focus on promotion, sponsorships and other work behind the scenes. Amber works with the actors on line delivery and blocking, though Brower steps in from time to time to work on character development as well.

“I pulled Liam aside to talk about the character of Robin Hood and how he’s going to make this role bop,” Brower said. “This version of Robin Hood is very arrogant and narcissistic, like how he’d have a hand mirror to admire himself instead of a sword at his belt.”

Two performers who had minor roles in Mary Poppins got major roles in Robin Hood, and they are George Engel-Foley and Bixie Brower, who is one of Tommy’s daughters. In Mary Poppins, Bixie played one of the featured chimney sweeps and a statue, while George was a police officer with one line. Brower said he wanted to take the actors whose talents were underutilized in Mary Poppins and give them more prominent roles in Robin Hood.

“With George, we saw so much behind the scenes, so much enthusiasm and so much talent stuffed into this little guy,” Brower said. “We were bound and determined that George was going to get more of an opportunity to shine.”

Bixie has been performing in Ottumwa Community Children’s Playhouse ever since she was 5, but had to take a smaller role in Mary Poppins because of another commitment. In Robin Hood, she and George play the role of narrators, sort of like town criers, listed in the script as “Town Guy” that Brower broke into two roles. He said this play breaks the “fourth wall” by having the actors, and specifically the narrators, speak directly to the audience.

The two villains of the story are Prince John, played by Ledger Logli, and his sidekick the Sheriff of Nottingham, played by Henry Broz. Ledger previously performed in Mary Poppins as Robertson Ay, and in Oliver! as Charlie, one of the orphans.

“He’s laugh out loud funny, just naturally funny, and we’re so happy to have him,” Brower said about Ledger.

Brower added that Henry did not expect to be cast as a bad guy, but he took the role and ran with it.

“Once he learned he was going to be a bad guy, he was excited about it,” Brower said. “He was super stoked.”

“The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood” is a play written by Mary Lynn Dobson and published in 2000. Fairfield Youth Performing Arts is producing it along with MidWestOne Bank. Tickets are on sale now at fairfieldacc.com and available at the FACC box office.

Cast List

(in Order of Appearance)

Town's Guy 1 – Bixie Brower

Town's Guy 2 - George Engel-Foley

Robin Hood – Liam Robbins

Little John – Reece Rasmussen

Friar Tuck – Oscar Haessler

Will Scarlet – Cameron Allen

Allan Adale – Kennedy Mahon

Woman w/Baby - Bodhi Cook

Sheriff of Nottingham – Henry Broz

Lady Marian – Thisbe Adkins