A CONTROVERSIAL play set against the backdrop of Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay is to be staged at the Octagon.

In God We Trust, produced by the Oldham-based touring company Peshkar Productions, focuses on two young Muslim men being held at the prison.

Approximately 650 men of more than 40 nationalities have been held in Guantanamo Bay.

According to the theatre company, one of the threads that binds these strangers to each other is their faith.

In God We Trust shifts the focus from the cages and chains of Guantanamo Bay to the people held there, exploring the relationship between the two men who find sanctuary in faith in order to survive amidst an often violent and degrading environment.

Peshkar Productions is one of the North-west's leading South Asian theatre and production companies.

Founded in 1991, it has provided a platform for the creative voice of the British South Asian community and has visited the Octagon with two previous productions, Masala Girls and Just Before The Rain.

In God We Trust, written by Manchester-based script-writer, musician, vocalist, poet and actor Avaes Mohammad, plays at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton on Tuesday April 12 and Wednesday April 13 at 7.30pm.

Tickets cost £8 (£6 concessions) and are available to buy online at www.octagonbolton.co.uk, or via the Octagon's Ticket Office on 01204 520661.

l Tickets are also on sale for Satin n' Steel, which stars Norman Pace (of Hale & Pace fame) as Vince Steel and Octagon newcomer Sara Poyzer as Teena Satin, and runs at the theatre from April 6 to 30. Tickets are priced between £6.50 and £15.95.

On Saturday, April 23, for those over the age of eight, there will be the opportunity to join Ignatius Trail and his Pirate Crew on a swashbuckling voyage to the dark, sinister depths of the Pirate underworld. Tickets for Ignatius Trail are £7 (£5 concessions).

Also coming up is a two-play Jim Cartwright season.

First up of the Bolton-born writer's plays will be a Mark Babych production of Two, which will be staged between May 5 and 28 and will star Emma Atkins, who played Charity Dingle in Emmerdale. Tickets are £6.50 to £15.95.This will be followed by Cartwright's much-acclaimed Eight Miles High - also produced by Octagon director Babych - between June 9 and July 2. Eight Miles High will feature the sounds of Jimi Hendrix, Steppenwolf, Procol Harum, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan and tickets are also £6.50 to £15.95.