THE creator of a world premiere to be staged at the Octagon Theatre next year has praised Bolton for its long-standing reputation for theatre.

Terry Deary, author of the popular Horrible Histories books, says he remembers the town's status for performance 50 years ago when he was in acting college — and is delighted to have returned to showcase his latest play.

The Macbeth Curse hits the stage for the first time as a joint production between the Octagon and Prime Theatre and will explore the magic and madness of Macbeth and Shakespeare using a combination of the playwright's own words as well as music hall songs and cutting-edge Edwardian theatre.

Directed by Prime Theatre's artistic director, Horwich-born Mark Powell, The Macbeth Curse follows arrogant Sir Alphonse King and his Sixty Minute Shakespeare Ensemble as they begin rehearsals of Macbeth for a Royal Command Performance, and find themselves struggling against spookily unexpected circumstances.

Mr Deary, aged 69, said: "It's been about 50 years since I last came to Bolton. I was in college and my girlfriend lived in Bradshaw. I remember bits of the town that have not changed, such as The Crescent, and of course I know all about the Octagon.

"I started out doing Theatre in Education (TIE) in 1972, and even then Bolton already had a good reputation for community theatre."

Mr Deary started out as an actor before being given his first taste of writing professionally — and went on to pen more than 280 books, including the Horrible Histories series.

He said: "After 50 children's novels I was asked to write a history joke book with facts in it. But I found the facts more interesting so it became a fact book with jokes in it. No one had done irreverence like this before.

"Historians should not write for children. But as I am not a historian I had to research the topics from afresh. It was my challenge as a children's author to make it accessible to young people.

"I don't want people to think that I write simple stories for children — you can look at some very complex issues, such as the Holocaust. It's more about sentence structure and vocabulary — you can order in such a way that children feel comfortable when they are reading it."

The Macbeth Curse will tour a number of Bolton schools from April 11 to 15, before heading into the Octagon Studio theatre from April 19.

The final performance will commemorate the 400 anniversary of the Bard's death — and birthday — on April 23, when there will be a post-show discussion about the playwright and his work.