A STORY of hidden secrets and high emotion will be served up with a slice of drama in Bolton this week.

Farnworth Little Theatre is taking on the round for its latest production - Separate Tables by Terence Rattigan.

The two-act drama has proved a challenge to put on - with the society tasked with creating a fully-functioning hotel dining room and lounge, in the centre of the auditorium.

But the tricky undertaking has proved less of a chore and more a labour of love.

Director Michael Haworth explains: “In my humble opinion this is the best play by Terence Rattigan, and he has written some wonderful stuff such as The Winslow Boy and The Deep Blue Sea.

“It is such a well-known play, a lovely play with a lot of feeling in it.”

Separate Tables is formed from two one-act plays which both take place in the Beauregard Private Hotel, Bournemouth, on the south coast,

A different couple is the focus of each act with a combined cast of 13 in Farnworth bringing it to the Bolton stage.

Mr Haworth added: “It was written and set in the 1950s. In those days there were people who were permanent residents of hotels – think Fawlty Towers and the recurring characters staying with Basil, but 20 years earlier.

“Every resident is trying to conceal some secret they are frightened will be revealed, and as the play evolves these secrets come to the surface.

“Rattigan wrote it at a time when he was going through a fairly traumatic time in his private life.

“He was a closet homosexual and he did not want the public finding out, so those feelings were at the back of his mind when he wrote the play.”

The show takes place in the lounge and the dining room of the hotel, and has been reworked to be presented to the audience ‘in the round’ rather than direct from the stage.

The show will run from Saturday until March 25, including matinee performance.

And if the popularity of Farnworth players and Rattigan did not need proof of its popularity, the show has already sold out on three nights.

Mr Haworth added: “The cast and crew have been great and we are really looking forward to getting the show in front of an audience.

“I’m very pleased it has been selling so well – I now just have to worry we have done it justice!”

For tickets, call the Farnworth Little Theatre box office on 0845 6430808 or visit farnworthlittletheatre.weebly.com.