NORTH Country Theatre is embarking on its latest production, Nightmares in Norfolk, touring to more than 40 venues this autumn.

Artistic director Nobby Dimon has planned a supernatural double bill with two adaptors, using two terrifying tales from two famous writers, featuring two actors, one told tongue-in-cheek, the other straight down the line.

Charles Dickens' The Signalman and a second tale based on M R James’s Oh Whistle and I’ll Come to You, form this intriguing double bill.

Simon Corble joined Nobby Dimon in adapting The 39 Steps for North Country Theatre’s first production in 1996. The play went on to become a West End and Broadway hit, winning many awards. A version of The 39 Steps is

still playing in theatres across the world as the company receives photographs of posters from globe-trotting fans, who remember seeing the original production in a village hall all those years ago.

Twenty-one years on, Simon Corble has adapted the Dickens and that master of the ripping yarn, Nobby Dimon, offers a North Country take to the M R James.

Vivienne Garnett returns to the company as director as Dimon is one of the actors in the double bill along with North Country regular Mark Cronfield.

Said Ms Garnett: “The themes of these two short stories are very similar – faith versus fact, the supernatural, the reliability of one's own brain, yet they are very different in tone.

"Corble's adaptation focuses on the dark psychology of his characters while Dimon has created a tongue-in-cheek take on the genre that still manages to establish a sense of unease.”

The tour is under way with last night scheduled for Reeth Memorial Hall on December 2. For information and to book tickets, contact North Country Theatre on 01748 825288 or at northcountrytheatre.com.