Poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy is to retell classic folk stories including The Pied Piper of Hamelin for the theatre this Christmas.

Duffy is collaborating with director, designer and choreographer Melly Still on the production Rats' Tales, which is set to be shown at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester between November and January. The show is "a dark and magical cycle of folk tales packed with thrills, laughs, loves and more than a bit of magic", said the Royal Exchange, "an epic piece of theatre with a strong visual style from seven tales from around the world".

The seven stories will range from a new version of the Pied Piper legend to Duffy's take on the English folk tale Tattercoats, about a girl neglected by her grandfather. Some are taken from Duffy's own book The Stolen Childhood and Other Dark Fairy Tales.

The poet laureate's version of the stories will be dramatised by Still, who has worked with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company in the past. She will present each tale in a "distinctively different style", said the Royal Exchange.

"The storytelling emerges from the stories," said Still. "We try not to interpret the stories – that is the job of the audience should they wish – and aim to remain faithful to them. We choose stories that avoid emphasising a moral or that aren't propelled by teaching lessons. The stories are meant as illuminators and as friends. They illuminate situation and behaviour, our own and those of others and make us feel at times challenged but mostly understood and able to act."