Legends of the Fen

"Story-telling, music, songs and humour … with a focus on Fenland history and folklore."

On tour now

"Excellent - Innovative, inventive and engaging show!...Simple but engrossing story-telling."

— Deborah Curtis, City of Cambridge Council

Bringing to life stories written by local children and sharing them with their wider communities.

Legends of the Fen is an adaptation of our previous ‘Tales from the Edge of Town’ workshops – Pairing artists with school children to explore and develop their creative writing skills.

In early 2024 we ran workshops in Cambridge, Wisbech, Ramsey & March (UK), where, with the help of partners, we explored the history of the Fens. Local artist Hilary Cox Condron, and Illustrator Tonka Uzu, lead the children in discovering more about their local area, and to create their own stories about the land on which they live.

Our team of professional actor musicians then took the stories into the rehearsal room and created a live show, weaving together the themes from the workshops, and bringing the children’s new legends to life.

At the premiere week in Cambridge 180 children, parents and carers listened to the stories & songs based on the objects from the Wisbech and Fenland Museum.

The show then toured across the Fens in June 2024, performing in our Mongolian Yurt to the children and their communities.

This short documentary film, gives an insight into how we made the play, and shows how we worked closely with partners and the young writers on the project.

Film credit – Barney Snow

We are able to run this project with support from a Cambridge City Council Community Grant, and an Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grant, plus a huge thanks to our partners:

20Twenty productions

March based organisation supporting children and young people through a constantly evolving range of creative learning, well-being and social action projects delivered in schools and the community.

Ramsey Neighbourhood Trust

RNT work to provide sustainable development in Ramsey Parish by being a resource for the community to enable local people to improve the place in which they live and work.

Wisbech & Fenland Museum

An independent charity-run museum, Wisbech is one of the oldest purpose-built museums in the United Kingdom. They have provided some of their choice artefacts for the children to explore, offering a wide range of ways to learn and engage with their collections.

Along with Fenland District & Wisbech Town Councils & local schools.

Produced by New International Encounter