People's folklore tales turned into theatre show

Katie-anna Whiting is behind the new theatre show that explores East Anglian folklore tales

A theatre company that interviewed people about local folklore has turned their stories into a new show.

Katie-anna Whiting, 41, founder and artistic director at The Whiting's On The Wall, was commissioned by Norwich Theatre to gather the stories, from famous ones like the Black Shuck dog, to lesser known tales.

She said the team had spoken to about 100 people in community events and at Norwich Book Fair which led to "hours" of recordings.

These stories, from Suffolk as well as Norfolk, have been turned into the show titled LoreFolk that will tour both counties in October.

Ms Whiting said it had been difficult choosing which interviews to use for the show

Ms Whiting said the show featured a collection of local tales and customs as well as tales families had passed down themselves over the years.

The stories will be retold during the show exactly as they were spoken, along with shadow play and an original music score.

"We had this really young lad who said he knew in the olden days of Norfolk all the people had webbed toes and an extra finger, and that they used to live under the water," she said.

"We asked how do you know that? He just said 'Oh I just know'.

"Then we had older people who had stories they would pass down and they also knew a lot of the customs that we are losing now, so it's really gorgeous that that generation can keep the things alive."

Black Shuck was a hound that was said to have stalked East Anglia in the 16th Century

The region is rich with folklore stories, including the Black Shuck demon hound who terrorised villages in the 16th Century, and Norfolk's Jack Valentine who was said to leave gifts for people on their doorstep on St Valentine's Day.

At the shows, the team aims to collect more stories which Ms Whiting said could potentially form the basis of more shows in the future.

The show will include shadow play to visualise some of the stories

"We could make 10 of these shows, you really could just keep going forever," she said.

"I love listening to people as they speak naturally, I think there's something really special about that.

"You can never really write something that would sound as good as it's said at the time.

"It's also really important that we offer a platform for that."