DRAGONS will infest York Theatre Royal this Christmas, as part of a new production.

The Book Of Dragons, from author of The Railway Children and Five Children And It, E Nesbit, will take over the theatre from December 12 until January 6.

Juliet Forster is directing the show, which is the first in-house Christmas show produced by the York Theatre Royal Studio, and said she was looking forward to seeing the creatures on stage.

Juliet said: “I’d read The Book of Dragon stories as a child and had a copy of them.

"I think stories with dragons were really good for any age.

"There are nine stories in all and we’re using five of them in the show with some references to other stories.

“There are great female protagonists in what are battling dragons kind of stories.

"There’s a princess who’s really feisty and it’s a very modern take.

"The dragons are all really different and really interesting.

"It was difficult to choose which ones to put on stage.”

The adaptation is centred around brother and sister dragon detectives Harry and Effie who return as young adults to their childhood home where they find dragon tracks in the snow.

Their Book of Dragons includes tales and legends handed down from long ago, “really recent eye witness accounts”, “suspected dragon sightings, close encounters of the dragon kind, even dragon conspiracy theories”, and the pair’s adventures will take the audience on an exciting ride.

Juliet said: “E Nesbit has a really lovely sense of humour and a lot of the dragons in her stories are funny or friendly, not all of them are frightening.

"Even for someone as young as a three-year-old, dragons are exciting, magical beings.

“So it’s a bit like the X Files for dragons.

"They use their time finding out about dragons and record it all in a book so they have all the top tips on how to deal with dragons, should you ever run into one.

"It all started when they were little and there was this alarming plague of dragons that they dealt with.”

The dragons will be brought to life on stage by a combination of physical storytelling, live animation and shadow puppetry, and Harry and Effie will be played by Emilio Iannucci, who recently appeared on the big screen in The Death Of Stalin - written and directed by his father Armando Iannucci - and Elizabeth Mary-Williams,who has performed physical theatre all over the world.

E. Nesbit’s The Book of Dragons is suitable for children aged three and over and their families.

Tickets are available now and cost between £11.50 and £14.50.

For more information or to buy tickets, phone the box office on 01904 623568 or go to yorktheatreroyal.co.uk