THE latest offering from the Octagon Theatre is not an easy ride, but it is one taken with humour and passion.

Ashes is supposedly a 'rarely performed' play which, if true, is a shame for its characters story is one too many can relate to.

Anne, Katy Cavanagh, and Colin, Colin Connor, are trying to have a baby but face a myriad of doctors, specialists, psychologists and more on a journey which leads to doubts, fears and heartbreak.

Set between 1969 and 1972, their highly personal tale is told warts - or in this case spots - and all with humour and real honesty.

While the first act focuses on the couple’s up and downs from bedroom to doctor’s room, the second half takes another direction to Colin’s home of Ulster and a period known as The Troubles.

You go from the struggles of conception, to the horror and impact of the bombings in Northern Ireland and family loyalty, and back again to the story of two people trying to make a life from what is left.

Katy and Colin return to the Octagon following their successful pairing in Two and Two2.

Once again under the direction of David Thacker, they prove a tour-de-force.

They bring Anne and Colin to life, with a true chemistry and affection shown between them.

The very ‘human’ performance, which mixes frustration, laughter and heartache, without becoming over sentimental, lifts the play and the audience in what might otherwise be a very painful production to watch unfold.

Clever stark and sterile set design by Ciaran Bagnall contrasts beautifully with the genuinely love and affection shown in Anne and Colin’s relationship.

Ashes works well as a four-person piece, with the talented John Branwell and Kate Coogan taking on multiple and varied roles from cold and distant council officers to warm-hearted but bungling friends.

Meanwhile Rudkin’s no-holds-bared script, which at times is delivered in such poetic style, never once shies away from the trials and terrors of the couple’s struggles, both as lovers and as a man and woman.

Ashes runs at the Octagon Theatre Bolton until March 11.