Photo Flash: In Rehearsal with JUST SO STORIES at the Stephen Joseph Theatre

Why are animals the way they are?

A long time ago, Rudyard Kipling wrote the Just So Stories for his own children - stories about where he imagined animals' trunks and humps and throats and other things came from.

Now, more than 100 years later, the Stephen Joseph Theatre tells you its own version of these famous tales. Or that's what should be happening...

When things don't go quite as planned, an intrepid trio takes on the task using whatever comes to hand. The result will surprise and delight all the family.

From the imagination of one of the UK's best-known creators of family theatre, Scarborough-born Vicky Ireland, this brand new version is told with the help of puppets and original music.

Her new adaptation of Just So Stories, which she is also directing, stars Cate Hamer, Dan Henley and Catherine Lamb, with design by Lucy Weller and music from JulIan Butler.

Just So Stories can be seen at the SJT, in rep, from Saturday 2 July to Saturday 27 August, with performances at 10am, 2.15pm and 6.45pm - please see the website for further details: www.sjt.uk.com/event/108/just_so_stories

See the cast in rehearsal below, photographed by Tony Bartholomew/Turnstone Media