Tale of team's rise from obscurity told on stage

A scene from the production of Exe Men at the Northcott Theatre in Exeter

The story of the Exeter Chiefs' rise from rugby underdogs to English and European champions is being retold on stage.

The book Exe Men - The Extraordinary Rise of the Exeter Chiefs has been adapted for the Northcott Theatre by screenwriter Ashley Pharoah, best known for writing the BBC TV series Life on Mars.

Charting the team's rise from obscurity, the theatre said the production told how the "underdogs of the rugby world became sporting champions".

It said the in-house production aimed to celebrate regional pride and elevate local heroes.

Martin Berry, creative director at Exeter Northcott, said Exe Men was a tale of how the Chiefs rose "from a club that maybe wasn't taken all that seriously".

"They had little resources and in the space of about 10 years, they became the premiership champions of England and not long after that, the champions of Europe," said Berry.

Robert Kitson, Guardian sports journalist and author, said he was looking forward to how the story had been interpreted for the stage

Exe Men is based on a book by the Guardian journalist Robert Kitson who reported weekly on the meteoric rise of the Chiefs.

He said: "Year by year you could feel the story growing and it got to the point where I thought, this is such a big story, if someone else writes this I will be really disappointed. I better write this book myself."

Portraying real people from the story, including the players and club chairman Tony Rowe, has been part of the challenge for the actors who know those people are likely to be in the audience.

Rob Baxter, director of rugby at Exeter Chiefs, said he was looking forward to seeing how the Exe Men book had been interpreted for the stage.

"Hopefully, it will catch people's imaginations about what teams and people can achieve with hard work, resilience and ambition," he said.