THAT the great American poet Walt Whitman had a special relationship with a group of 19th century Bolton men is one of the most intriguing aspects of the town’s history.

And it’s that extraordinary story that has inspired playwright Stephen Hornby to write a play about Whitman’s bond with the men who jokingly referred to themselves as The Eagle Street College on account of that’s where their founder William Wallace lived and was the venue for their weekly meetings and discussions about Whitman and his work.

The play, titled The Adhesion of Love, had its first Bolton performance in the basement theatre of the museum on Saturday. It was a sell-out but tickets are still available for the 7pm performance on Thursday.

So what intrigued Stephen to write a play about Walt Whitman and the band of Bolton enthusiasts ?

“I think it’s the unexpectedness. I knew Walt Whitman was the big queer poet from America in that period but why were these men from Bolton so into him, and into him so obsessively? It’s extraordinary

“I love uncovering and championing hidden stories and discovering quirky, unexpected things about the past, so for me, that was the way in to wanting to write the play.

“I knew that Bolton Museum has a huge wonderful collection about Walt Whitman and the Eagle Street college so I took myself there and started researching.”

Central to his understanding was a travel journal the museum holds. It was written by William Wallace, the founder of the Eagle Street College, and details his visit to Whitman in America.

“One of my big anxieties as a playwright coming to address the material was how do you write dialogue for Walt Whitman? He was an amazing wordsmith so how on earth could my humble attempt to put words in his mouth seem valid?”

The answer came in Wallace’s journal.

“Because I had this wonderful travelogue from Wallace, there was Whitman speaking conversationally to a person in his living room, so I had his voice.

“Wallace visited Whitman in 1891 and Whitman died in 1892 so this is one of the last detailed records we have of him at that point in his life. He knew he was coming to the end of his life and is reflective about his past so it was a wonderful time to be visiting him. Wallace recorded everything. He wrote what Whitman said word by word. It’s a very vivid account of what that journey was like and what it meant.”

The play, which has been touring across the region, features a cast of seven who play various roles.

The first act looks at how Wallace had his spiritual epiphany about Whitman and the establishment of the group. Act Two follows Wallace’s journey to New York and his meeting with Whitman. The final act looks at what Wallace’s life was like after the meeting and after Whitman’s death.

“It’s a very modern story in that this is a world in which, suddenly, an upper working class guy from Bolton can go to America and meet his hero And then you’ve got the great disappointment where your hero doesn’t live up to your expectation And Whitman knows that because he says to Wallace: ‘So you’ve come to be disillusioned then?’.”

“It’s clear he knew he couldn’t live up to the image Wallace had of him.”.

The performances coincide with Bolton Museum’s new exhibition. Desire, love, identity: exploring LGBTQ histories in Bolton is a joint exhibition with the British Museum put together to mark 50 years since homosexuality was partially decriminalised in England by the Sexual Offences Act and will be in town from March 15 to May 16.

Stephen is delighted The Adhesion of Love is playing while the exhibition is on because he feels that the homosexual nature of Whitman and the members of the Eagle Street College has been swept under the carpet for too long.

“As with a lot of LGBTQ history, it has been made invisible and it all becomes a sort of asexual past which it wouldn’t be if the characters were engaged in heterosexual relationships.

“Whitman’s diaries have been de-coded so we know he was talking about men. When you add that to the poetry and the photographic record you’d be struggling not to see that this was an intense emotional and physical relationship that he had with these men. I call it wilful misinterpretation; it’s going against every bit of evidence that’s screaming at you in order to not see that Whitman was gay.”

Along with his research at Bolton Library and Museum, Stephen has followed the town trail of plaques located at significant sites associated with the Eagle Street College.

Last year he also took part in the May 31 Walt Whitman walk, an annual event in which modern-day Whitman fans recite his poetry, picnic and toast the poet’s birthday with a replica of the loving cup used by the Eagle Street College members. But most important of all to Stephen is the fact that his play is being performed in the museum.

“I think it’s really special and I’ve been looking forward to the Bolton performances. It feels like the play is being brought home and to perform it in the museum where there is the crackle of temporal energy coming down the corridor from the objects I’m talking about in the play is extraordinary.”

Tickets: www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/bolton/bolton-museum-art-gallery/the-adhesion-of-love