Legends Of The Fen – Short Documentary Released

A couple of months after our Legends of the Fen tour, we are excited to release this documentary film. It gives an insight into how we made the play, and shows how we worked closely with partners and the young writers on the project.

One young writer tells of how she was instinctually drawn to writing a story about eels, and how she came up with the name “The Living No Matter What Eel”. And another tells of how she feels when she is inside her story writing, that she feels happy because she has “the power to change and control it.”

Robert Bell, the curator from the Wisbech and Fenland Museum, is inspired to hear young people tell new stories about the Museum objects. The objects do not have stories attached, so it is up to young imaginations to fill in the gaps and to find the stories behind objects like the Eel Trap or the Anglo-Saxon Brooch.

Sarah Edwards, Headteacher from the Elliot Schools Trust, describes how useful it is for children to write for a purpose.  When we ran the creative writing workshops, we invited children to imagine a story based on an object, and to mix the reality of the object with their own imaginations. And we told the children that their stories may be selected as part of a show touring the Fenland region, and would be published in a book, Legends Of The Fen, to be shared with a much wider audience.  This sense of purpose inspired 250 stories.

We are very grateful to all out partners for the collaboration on the project, particularly 20Twenty Productions who hosted the show at the Wisbech Reads Festival. This September we will be evaluating the project further with our partners and we will be planning how and when to continue our work in Fenland.

Audiences enjoyed watching Legends Of The Fen; if you missed the show, this behind the scenes film will give you an insight into both the making and the playing of the show.

We hope you enjoy.