Carol Ann Duffy plans festive fairytale show
1st May 2012
Poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy is writing a special festive stage production inspired by a number of the Grimm Brothers' classic fairytales.
Entitled Rats' Tales, the show will be based on, among others, The Pied Piper of Hamelin and Clever Gretel, and will be performed at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester this Christmas.
It is Duffy's latest collaboration with Melly Still, who will dramatise and direct the production, and will be similar in style and tone to the acclaimed Beasts and Beauties, which the duo staged in Bristol in 2004.
A spokesman for the Royal Exchange said the venue has enjoyed a 'tremendous relationship' with Duffy over the last decade.
'In recent years, she has been doing regular events with local poets and she promises that Rats' Tales will be a transformative and immersive event for adults and children alike,' he added.
The production is set to run from November 29th 2012 to January 12th 2013.