SELBY actor Luke Adamson once played scrum half alongside his fly-half father Ray, who toured Australia and Fiji as part of England's squad in 1988 no less.

"It was for Selby fifth team" recalls Luke, who now returns to Selby RUFC's ground on Sunday afternoon as part of the squad for Leeds company Slung Low's free performance of Lisa Holdsworth's show Rugby Songs: the one with headsets for the crowd, first staged at assorted Yorkshire grounds during the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

"I was in the position of knowing Slung Low director Alan Lane from doing Blood + Chocolate in York and [Selby Arts Festival director] David Edmunds from when his Dep Arts organisation helped me tour One Last Waltz, a play about Alzheimer's, so the prospect of doing a show with rugby songs at rugby club grounds was something I wanted to get involved with, so I contacted Alan.

"I'd played Rugby Union since junior days, as a scrum half, starting at seven years old, and my dad went on tour with England in 1988, when he was playing for fly half and full back for Wakefield, and he was also in the squad for the Five Nations, so it was interesting when the script came through, with stories such as when England fans first sang Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, at Twickenham that year."

Chris Oti, England's black winger, had scored a second-half hattrick of tries that March afternoon in a 35-3 victory, prompting the Twickenham throng to burst into their tribute song. "'I was there', my dad said. 'What, you were in the crowd?' I asked him. 'No, I was on the England bench!."

Ray reached the rugby heights, first as a player then as a referee, and Luke showed promise too. "I played in the North Yorkshire squad for one season in my age group, but by then I was starting to go to youth theatre in York and I knew that was the route I wanted to go down, but I did play a season with the Selby fifths with my dad in 2006-2007," says the York Theatre Royal and Northern Broadsides actor.

York Press:

Ray Adamson, Wakefield and Selby fly half, 1988 England squad member and actor Luke's father, in his playing days

Sunday afternoon's sold-out performance takes place on Selby RUFC's first-team pitch with the crowd on the touchlines, hearing every note and story behind each national song, from New Zealand's Haka to South Africa’s Shosholoza, through hi-tech headphone technology, the trademark of Slung Low's outdoor productions.

Luke, who appeared in the 2015 production too, will be performing with Nadia Imam, Tyron Maynard and Sally Ann Staunton, each kitted in myriad national rugby shirts.

"Doing it in the middle of summer, it's going to be hot as we each have six jerseys on at one point – and we have to make sure we've all got them on in the right order," says Luke, who starred in Northern Broadsides' When We Are Married at York Theatre Royal last September.

The Kiwis' Haka is traditionally the most fearsome sight and sound in world rugby, but Luke recognises that might not be the case on Sunday. "I'm not sure it's quite as intimidating when you have just four actors," he says. "Lisa [Holdsworth] has found a translation for the Haka, though each time the Kiwis do it, it might be slightly different, but we're doing the best-known one, piecing it together step by step, working out which moves to do to each line.

"We'll be performing a version in English, and though the dance might look scary, the message is very profound and philosophical about life and death, and it features possibly my favourite line of all the songs, about 'the hairy man that brought the sun'."

As a son of Selby, Luke is delighted that David Edmunds has set up the first Selby Arts Festival. "As soon as David told me he was planning this festival, I wanted to take part," he says. "Growing up in Selby, I had to go to York or Leeds to do youth theatre or if I wanted to go to the theatre, there was nothing going on in Selby, but Selby Town Hall has changed that situation and now David has put together this festival.

"The way tickets have sold so well [Seth Lakeman, Ed Byrne, Rugby Songs and Sea Legs Puppet Theatre's The Ugly Duckling have sold out] proves that there's absolutely an appetite for a festival in Selby, with pop-up shows and big shows at Selby Abbey. You can see how much of a buzz there is in Hull with the UK City of Culture going on this year, and if Selby can have a bit of a buzz too, then great."

Selby Arts Festival presents Slung Low's Rugby Songs at Selby RUFC, Sunday, 4pm, SOLD OUT.