WRITER Richard Hurford has previously adapted The Three Musketeers and Frankenstein for the stage and last year he coralled the cast and director's ideas for Sherlock Holmes: The Hound Of The Baskervilles in York Theatre Royal's summertime family show.

Now, he is tackling another favourite, the adventures of Robin Hood, for the Theatre Royal's 2017 summer adventure in a new piece called Robin Hood: The Arrow Of Destiny that will run from August 4 to September 2.

"This time it's wholly me writing it, working closely with composer Rob Castell," says Richard. "He's a great person to collaborate with, having worked with him and Damian on Sherlock last summer, closeted in a room for five weeks!

"Last year's show was devised from a lot of very strong existing material – Conan Doyle's text – but this year has been a different process, working closely with Damian, Rob and Jane Linz Roberts, the designer, on a show with all sorts of different puppets, from human size to giant, and Jane's solutions to some of the puppet challenges we put to her have had an inspirational bearing on both the narrative and the characters."

Most significant in Hurford's script is an upgrade for Maid Marian, to be played by Siobhan Athwal. "Marian is really interesting because she's as old a figure in myths as Robin Hood," says Richard.

"As far as I'm aware from my research, she appears as early as Robin Hood and would appear in May festivals and in Mummers' Plays as a pagan fertility figure, who was originally linked in with the symbol of male fertility, the Green Man, which Robin Hood is connected with too.

"Marian seems to be part of the much earthier pagan tradition, being incredibly earthy and incredibly active in terms of what she did, such as hunting. She was very much a woman of the woods, when folk heroes were ordinary people, but later she gravitated into the Lady Marian/Maid Marian figure of the late 16th/17th century when Robin Hood became popular with the nobility."

Marian will be more prominent and no doubt more earthy in The Arrow Of Destiny. "She's a forest girl, a hunter, she's good with a bow and arrow and at looking after herself and certainly doesn't need anyone to rescue her!" says Richard. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk