Multiple actors and actresses gather for a scene during rehearsal of Knight of Sherwood Forest at Lone Star Church in Tyler, Texas on Monday, October, 8 2018. The original play was written by local playwright Becky Clayton, under the auspices of Drama With a Point Productions and The Fellowship of Christian Swordsmen. The play will be presented Oct. 19-21. (Schuyler Wick/Tyler Morning Telegraph).

A drama troupe dressed in authentic Middle Ages costumes and accompanied by sword fighters will present “The Knight of Sherwood Forest,” a medieval parable set in the days of Robin Hood, the heroic outlaw in English folklore.

Although presented in the context of the Robin Hood legend, the plot of the story revolves around a young boy displaced while King Richard was away fighting the Crusades in the 1100s. The boy was taken in and raised by Robin Hood’s band of outlaws, but always wanted to be a knight. At issue in the play is the question of whether he can keep the vows of knighthood even if it costs him everything.

Characters in the play include the Knight of Sherwood Forest, Robin Hood, Little John and Friar Tuck.

The play is multigenerational. About 98 percent of the 40-member cast are Tyler area home-schooled youngsters from preschoolers through high school. Other actors are young adults in their 20s and 30s as well as a few older adults. They have rehearsed two or three nights per week since August.

Director and Playwright Becky Clayton said the tale is a family-friendly drama featuring live steel sword fighting, compelling characters and a solid message with a positive moral. The play will be staged at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Oct. 20, and 2:30 p.m. Oct. 21, at Tyler Civic Theatre.

The presentation is sponsored by Drama With a Point Productions and The Fellowship of Christian Swordsmen, both under the umbrella of The Magnificent Journey, a nonprofit corporation that has performed about 100 skits, plays and demonstrations for churches, civic organizations and other groups for more than a decade.

Advance tickets, priced at $6, may be purchased online at magnificentjourney.org. If seats are still available, tickets at the door will be $5. Proceeds will benefit Uncommon Threads, a Tyler organization dedicated to stopping human trafficking.

Anyone may participate in productions by The Magnificent Journey, which grew out of a home-school cooperative that existed about 15 years ago and studied the Middle Ages. The organization’s primary goal is to present Christian spiritual truths and develop Godly character through the disciplines of drama, theatrical sword fighting and discipleship.

“’The Knight of Sherwood Forest’ is a fictional account, but it does have real people and real towns that existed back in the 1100s,” Clayton said. “For example, Robin dresses up as a lace merchant to come in to Nottingham and pass money out to the poor people that he has collected under the sheriff’s nose. During the 1100s, the industry of Nottingham was fine lace.”

Clayton, who has written several one-act plays and four or five major productions, added, “I try to stick as many historical things in there as I can.”

A free packet of historical materials and coloring pages about knighthood and chivalry will be handed out to families attending “The Knight of Sherwood Forest” and they may take pictures of themselves in a photo booth dressed in medieval costumes.

Costumes in “The Knight of Sherwood Forest” authentically replicate clothing worn around the 11th or 12th century.

The play has original music. Gabe Graves, 16, wrote and will perform the theme music and interlude music. The song “Trouble in Sherwood Forest” was written by Joseph Bradley, a media and music minister at a church in Greenville.

Anna Graves and Dawson Bodenhamer did the video and technical work for the play.

Many of the steel sword fighters in the play have been fighting for 10 or more years, taught by Chris and Alison Chadwick, professional theatrical and combat sword fighters for 30 years who have performed with an international theatrical sword fighting company.

Deborah Streckfus appears in the play as the character Granny Covington and has worked with the drama group in several capacities through the years, assisting with costumes, public relations, props and other things.

“The play should appeal to anybody,” Streckfus said. “It is a modern morality play (that conveys) the virtue of fidelity, of being faithful to your convictions even if you have to sacrifice. We want the audience to feel uplifted and encouraged.”

The play exhibits sword fighting, chivalry and good versus evil, she said.

Besides several actual sword fighting melees in the play, Clayton pointed out combatants shoot with bows and arrows, a bow staff and crossbows.

The playwright said she hopes the play will inspire young people acting in the production to have courage in their own lives, sacrificial friendship and love that Robin Hood showed toward the young knight.

Clayton also said the play challenges the audience to also believe in and stand for what they think is right regardless of the consequences.

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