A NEW theatre company based in the Yorkshire Dales is making its debut at Richmond's Georgian Theatre Royal next week with a stage adaptation of Daniel Defoe’s classic tale Robinson Crusoe.

Crusoe’s Island performed by the newly-formed Fell-Foss Theatre, is a specially-written one-man show that tells the familiar story of shipwreck, solitude and salvation through the eyes of Crusoe himself as an old man looking back on his adventures.

It opens at The Georgian Theatre Royal on Thursday and Friday, September 20, and then tours throughout the region.

It is exactly 300 years since Defoe’s novel was first published with its full title of The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner. Given such Yorkshire roots, it is a fitting choice of topic for the newly-formed theatre, which is the brainchild of Colin Bailey, administrator at North Country Theatre from 2012 and former North Country Theatre actor Mark Cronfield. Supported by an Arts Council Grant, they aim to continue the tradition of North Country Theatre by bringing original, high-quality drama to the North of England, particularly to rural communities and small alternative venues.

Mark said: “It is very exciting to be embarking on this new venture and to keep the artistic flame burning within the Yorkshire Dales."

Crusoe’s Island was inspired by the late Elizabeth Bishop’s poem Crusoe in England, which places Defoe’s hero back in his native land reviewing his past. It is wistful and reflective and looks at the differences between England and the island world that Crusoe had to create from his imagination.

Tickets cost from £11 to £16 and are available from The Georgian Theatre Royal’s Box Office on 01748 825252 or online at www.georgiantheatre.co.uk.