A BOLTON theatre will bring its season to a close with a farce focused on the backstage shenanigans of a company in the throes of putting on a show.

Noises Off opens at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton, on Thursday and runs until Saturday, July 4.

Writer Michael Frayn's most famous play, it is celebrated for its absurd humour, impeccable timing and touching presentation of the extremes and eccentricities of human nature.

The production will bring David Thacker’s six years as artistic director of the Octagon to a close, before he takes up the post of professor of theatre at the University of Bolton.

He said: "I’m delighted to direct Michael Frayn’s hilarious farce, Noises Off, as my final production as artistic director of the Octagon theatre.

"It is a challenge to direct but a joy to watch and I’m sure Octagon audiences will love it.

"I’ve been able to assemble a brilliant cast, most of whom I’ve worked with during my six years at the theatre.

"The combination of favourite faces and classic comedy makes for the perfect ending to the theatre’s season and my current role within it.”

Noises Off has been revised and rewritten by Frayn more than any of his other works.

Originally presented as a one-act short, Exits, in 1977, the three-act version premiered in 1982. The most recent adaptation, written for the Old Vic’s 2011 revival, will be used for the Octagon's production.

It stars Olivier Award and Manchester Theatre Awards nominee Rob Edwards, who appeared in Duet for One and Separation at the Octagon Theatre last year, as temperamental director Lloyd Dallas.

Waterloo Road actress Jessica Baglow plays Poppy Norton-Taylor; Colin Connor, who appeared in the theatre's production of A View from the Bridge earlier this year, is Frederick Fellowes, and James Dutton, who was in Journey’s End and Early One Morning, is Garry LeJeune.

It also stars Barbara Drennan as Belinda Blair, Paula Jennings as Brooke Ashton, James Quinn as Timothy Allgood, and Kenneth Alan Taylor — recipient of the Horniman Award for Outstanding Contributions to Theatre — as rarely-sober Selsdon Mowbray.

Joining the cast is Octagon newcomer Charlotte Cornwell, as forgetful Dotty Otley, who previously worked with Thacker in his West End production of A View from the Bridge.

Designed by Ruari Murchison, Noises Off is on at the Octagon Theatre from Thursday until Saturday, July 4.

There will be a British Sign Language performance on Thursday, June 11; an audio described performance on Wednesday, June 24; an Investigate Day to explore the themes and issues of the play on Saturday, June 27; a meet the director and cast event on Monday, June 29, and a captioned performance on Thursday, July 2.

For tickets, phone 01204 520661 or visit octagonbolton.co.uk.