Me & Robin Hood performed at the Brisbane Powerhouse on February 15-16 and was hands down a show worth watching for audiences of all types. All in all a compelling and moving piece of theatre is the story of Shon Dale Jones and his view of money and ultimately what it has made us as people.
Dale Jones knows how to craft a story but also weave the audience through it, in particular late comers, so if you fear the spotlight I suggest you get there at precisely the right time. More interesting was the dynamic he had with one of the audience members on this particular night, named Lynette, whom he continuously referred to as his personal cheerleader in the sense that she enthusiastically clapped to introduce him on stage and was laughing at all the suitable points, making her a most favourable audience member in the eyes of Dale Jones. With his numerous quirky expressions and way of being, not to mention his expressive English accent, it is clear to see that Dale Jones was a crowd favourite.
Dale Jones has a way with storytelling, going back and forth between real moments and memories and it's best you keep focused so you can keep up with it all. As plenty of events occur one after another in the tales of Dale Jones it is sometimes hard to keep track of it all but fortunately it all links together in the end. Dale Jones rushes onto a train one day to find himself seated in the far more expensive carriage due to there being simply no room in the other carriages. He soon finds himself getting in trouble for not having the required ticket for the higher class carriage and realises he is short of money but manages to scrape something together. Dale Jones goes to protest in front of a bank with a sign that encourages others to join him in robbing it, and soon attracts police attention. There are many parts of Dale Jones and the way he talks that is rather fascinating and captivating as he keeps pushing the story along with bits from the past, present and future.
Dale Jones is a big fan of Robin Hood, as you could hint from the title of the production, and very much believes in the fact that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer and the gap is getting wider and wider. But what can we really do to solve this? It might be a good idea to bring some spare change to a Dale Jones performance as there are donation buckets as you exit, and that the money goes to charity to help kids get off the streets and help the homeless in Australia. When Dale Jones was younger he tried to rob a bank because he had a key and that key could open a safe in the bank and he gathered his football team together in order to accomplish the very mission of getting inside and inserting this key into the safe. Attending a Dale Jones performance requires a bit of imagination from the audience as the storytelling relies heavily on dialogue, however, this ultimately makes for a thrilling experience where you are reminded of the power of the spoken word and what storytelling is really about.
Feb 15-16
Visy Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse
Joanna Letic