THE world première of Benjamin Askew's The Lady of the Lake opens at Keswick's Theatre by the Lake on Saturday (June 13).

The play about King Arthur, Britain’s most famous and mysterious ruler, combines high-energy and fast-paced action with Benjamin's poetically-penned dialogue, plunging you into a world of ancient magic and ruthless ambition, of cowardly kings and unchivalrous knights, sword-wielding maidens and innocent young witches – a world in which only one thing is certain: everybody wants to be a legend.

Benjamin's riveting and imaginative piece, written entirely in the verse form loved by Shakespeare, has little to do with the glory days of Camelot, the round table or the Holy Grail. Apparently, it tells instead how Arthur, now old and weary, retires to Carlisle, a city rich in associations with the king. Arthur’s weakness leads to a dangerous vacuum and a fierce struggle for power.

The Lady of the Lake, one of the most ambitious productions ever mounted in Theatre by the Lake’s intimate Studio, is directed by Mary Papadima, the theatre’s associate director.

Benjamin said that he has loved the stories of King Arthur, since he first heard them as a child.

“They excite me,” he added. “They confuse me. They fascinate and frustrate me because, no matter how often I might hear them or how many different versions I might read, there is always something new to discover – about me, about humanity, about the world in which we find ourselves.”

“At the end of each fresh telling of the tale, there are always new questions to be asked and age-old questions that still remain unanswered.”

Benjamin said he had to find a new lens through which to view the the ancient stories.

“For me, that lens was the Lake District. I first discovered Arthur’s links to Cumbria when I was working as an actor at Theatre by the Lake. The literary history is fascinating but what excited me more was that when I walked through Borrowdale and climbed Castle Crag, the landscape itself seemed to retell the story.

“I began to imagine these characters - so familiar and yet so alien - living out their lives against the backdrop of the fells, seeing the mists of Avalon roll out across Derwentwater, feeling the ancient magic that lurks within Blencathra. My inner geek was captivated. My inner child was enchanted.”

Benjamin wrote his first Arthurian drama when he was seven - its one and only performance in the classroom of his Lancashire school on a drizzly Friday afternoon; and it didn't go well.

“Poor Guinevere never made it out of the cloakroom," recalled Benjamin.

"Within minutes of my carefully crafted prologue, all but she – still waiting amongst the anoraks for a cue that would never come – had well and truly lost the plot: Lancelot was onto his third death scene, Arthur was crying in a corner and several Knights of the Round Table had opted instead to be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

The Lady of the Lake - which runs in the Studio until November 6 - has been supported by Bill Mapleson, an emeritus professor at the University of Cardiff, in memory of his wife Doreen. The couple spent many holidays walking in the Lake District and seeing plays at the Blue Box, the mobile theatre that led to the creation of Theatre by the Lake. They contributed to the fund to build the theatre.

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by Benjamin Askew, opening on June 13. Set in Cumbria in the final days of King Arthur, the gripping tale follows the scheming of everyone who would take the throne for themselves.

Completing the cracking summer season line-up, which runs until November, is a psychological thriller - Enlightenment by Shelagh Stephenson, opening on August 1. When 20-year-old Adam goes missing overseas, his parents are distraught. But six months later someone who looks uncannily like their son reappears, clutching his passport.

Well-known for its five star summer productions Theatre by the Lake also stages a first class festive show, rounding off this year with the much-loved Christmas classic The Snow Queen.

The 2015 programme also includes two shows produced in collaboration with other theatre companies. The first is a restaging from November 19-28 of one of the most talked about shows in the Keswick theatre’s history, Kay Adshead's powerful The Bogus Woman. Original performer Krissi Bohn – who played taxi-driver Lloyd's daughter Jenna in Coronation Street - returns to reprise what was described as her “vividly realised and blistering” performance.

The second is a special Christmas show for four to seven year olds. Produced in collaboration with children’s theatre company Theatre Hullabaloo, Bear and Butterfly follows the fortunes of two unusual best friends and is written by award-winning playwright Annie McCourt.

As well as Theatre by the Lake’s own shows, the rest of the year promises a huge range of drama, music, comedy and talks from visiting companies and artists. Favourites such as mountaineer Doug Scott, Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers and Roots in Cumbria return, joined by others ranging from folks stars The Unthanks to a ballet version of Cinderella.

Box office 017687-74411.