NORTH Yorkshire theatre makers Alexander Wright and Phil Grainger grew up reading The Famous Five.

"I think most of our generation did," says Alexander. "It's such a shock to hear of anyone who hasn't read them," says Phil, who, like Alexander, is in his 20s. "My parents read them too, and I had the full set of tapes, and I remember I had to leave my bedroom door open so that my sister could hear them as well!"

Together, they have attained the rights to stage a theatrical adventure for families devised around Enid Blyton's 21 Famous Five stories that began in 1942, and their premiere will be staged in association with Enid Blyton Entertainment from Wednesday in Stillington to mark the 75th anniversary of the first book's publication.

Grainger's immersive theatre company Gobbledigook Theatre will bring the stories to life at literary festivals, in back gardens and as part of a national celebration of Enid Blyton’s life and works at RHS Harlow Carr in Harrogate, including a Famous Five-themed picnic party on August 11, on what would have been Blyton’s 120th birthday.

"When I went to Harlow Carr last year to discuss doing a show, they said they were doing a Famous Five celebration this summer, and we thought, 'yes, we could do that', though I'd never thought of doing a Famous Five show before because no-one's ever done one [although rights were granted in 2014 for a West End musical that is yet to open]," says Phil.

Rosanna Brear will play George, Sam Gannon, Julian, Robert Heard, Dick, and Tori Klays, Anne, in writer-director Wright's nostalgic trip around the English countryside, smugglers' coves and seaside dens as the children enact some of the most memorable moments of the Blyton stories.

"There's a lot in the stories that's interesting to us; there's a lot about honesty, bravery and friendship," says Alexander. "None of them play any psychological games with each other and they're all quite open. If they insult each other, they apologise."

"If there's a problem, they deal with it and move on," says Phil.

Previews of The Famous Five run at The Mill in Stillington, a magical garden location near York, from Wednesday to Sunday at 7pm with weekend matinees at 2pm; tickets, gobbledigooktheatre.co.uk. The RHS Harlow Carr shows in Harrogate take place on August 10 to 12 and August 17 to 19 at 6pm.