Flirtatious and frivolous comedy Private Lives opens at Bolton's Octagon Theatre on Thursday

Noël Coward’s comedy of manners, Private Lives, will be on at the Octagon until Saturday, April 18, starring Fiona Hampton as vivacious and beautiful Amanda Prynne.

On a romantic evening in 1930s France, Amanda and Victor are enjoying their first evening as newlyweds, unaware that Amanda’s ex-husband Elyot and his young wife Sibyl are celebrating their own honeymoon in the room next door.

When the divorcees cross paths, their reunion launches a sequence of events that nobody could foresee — passions are rekindled and sparks fly.

Fiona said: "They are on honeymoon and she realises that her ex-husband is in the suite next door and is also on his honeymoon.

"It's about them reconnecting and realising they are still in love with each other.

"I think it's known for its comedy but I think people will come and realise there are a lot of darker moments in it.

"It's about relationships and the ups and downs."

Premiered in 1930, it takes a satirical look at the era’s Bright Young Things — a nickname given by the tabloid press to the bohemian and reckless young aristocrats and socialites of 1920s and '30s London, known for their wild behaviour and ostentatious parties.

Fiona, who played Dr Lulu Hutchison in BBC hospital drama Holby City, said: "They grew up in the 1920s, bright young things having plenty of money and not really knowing what to do with their lives — trying to search for what it is they want.

"It's set in between two Great Wars with the kind of trivial and Champagne-fuelled lifestyle that the rich lived."

Private Lives will be directed by the Octagon's associate director Elizabeth Newman, the theatre’s next artistic director, and will star Harry Long as Elyot, with Jessica Baglow and Niall Costigan as forsaken partners Sibyl and Victor.

Fiona said: "It's going really well, it's really fun.

"It's a really good cast."

No stranger to the Octagon, the London actress has appeared in previous productions including The Glass Menagerie, Of Mice and Men and Lighthearted Intercourse — Bill Naughton's tender, funny and intimate portrayal of a young couple living in 1920s Bolton.

Fiona said: "It was great but I felt quite a lot of pressure because of the history of that piece for this theatre and this town, with it being Bill Naughton, and me not being Northern.

"I felt a big responsibility for Bill and Bill's work and the fact that we were reviving the piece.

"But then I think you feel that with any play you do, you feel that responsibility to the writer.

"That was a great production to be involved in.

"I did learn so much about the history of Bolton and Rivington Pike and the mills.

"If you compare Private Lives to Lighthearted Intercourse, it shows a really interesting difference in choice and opportunity."

Fiona recently appeared in Kingsman: The Secret Service — a spy action comedy film starring Colin Firth — which saw her plunged underwater for some scenes.

She said: "I did a feature film last year that came out at the beginning of this year.

"It was surreal, a big change from doing theatre."

Noël Coward’s Private Lives, directed by Elizabeth Newman, is on at the Octagon from Thursday until Saturday, April 18.