WHEN The Bucket Club first went to the Edinburgh Fringe last year they brought their own version of a folk tale which deliberately turned the traditional story-telling form on its head.

“Around the time we started making Lorraine And Alan, folk stories were very popular on the Fringe,” says producer Matthew Lister, who set up The Bucket Club with Brighton-based Nell Crouch and fellow Bristol University graduates.

“There were lots of plays where men were playing accordions and dressing in waistcoats, using beautiful puppets to tell folk stories in traditional ways.

“We wanted to approach Lorraine And Alan in a more modern way.”

Lorraine And Alan takes its inspiration from the Selkie myth of Northern Scotland and Scandinavia. The stories are similar to the legend of the mermaid – a seal is washed ashore as a beautiful woman. She can be kept in that form if the person discovering her hides or burns the seal skin washed up alongside her.

In The Bucket Company’s version Alan is a seal guide working on the isolated expanses of his hometown Blakeney Point on the North Norfolk coast when he discovers Lorraine.

Not only is it set close to the area where Lister grew up, but Blakeney is also the location where co-writer Crouch used to go on holiday.

Alan’s situation reflects that which many of The Bucket Club were in following graduation in 2012.

“Everyone was living at home, out of work or trying to find work and discovering they were overqualified,” says Lister.

“In the play Alan is isolated and his parents are away. Lots of his friends have left Norfolk. At one point Lorraine asks him when she’s going to meet his friends, and he brushes her off. We get the impression that no one else is around for him – and Lorraine fills that gap, giving his life some purpose.”

As well as giving a more modern take on the isolated fisherman, the set and electronic sound design are the polar opposite of the traditional folk story approach. Two musicians manipulate vocals and onstage sound to provide a live electronic score for the show.

And all the props and scenery are built from plastic bottles in contrast to the wood and soft cloths generally found in folk theatre.

“There’s not an overt environmental message, but it certainly plays a part,” says Lister.

The play grew from The Bucket Club’s two-week residency at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith, organised by arts charity IdeasTap, which is set to close in June due to funding cuts.

“We had written about 75% of the plot,” says Lister. “The remainder was put in by the company – so it is part scripted and part workshopped.”

As well as getting positive reviews at the 2014 Edinburgh Fringe, Lorraine And Alan scooped the Brighton Fringe Award For Excellence. The slot at The Old Market was part of the prize.

“It was great to win as this is our first piece of work,” says Lister. “The reason we made it was to launch everyone’s careers – people weren’t getting any work, so we thought we would make something ourselves and see if we could get noticed.”

Brighton Fringe: Lorraine And Alan The Old Market, Upper Market Street, Hove, Thursday, May 21, and Friday, May 22