SEVERAL Bill Naughton plays were turned into films, and one of the best-loved of those is unusual in that the writer set it not in his beloved Lancashire but in swinging London.

The play is, of course, Alfie, which was made into a hit film starring Michael Caine, and as part of the Bill Naughton celebrations David Thacker will be working through the script with Octagon actors before giving a rehearsed reading.

“It’s a very well known play and it’s good fun,” he says. “I only really know Bill Naughton through the films — Spring and Port Wine, The Family Way and of course Alfie.

“It will be very exposing for me to work like this — it’s very exciting.”

David is full of praise for Naughton’s work, and says the success of Rafta Rafta, which opens tonight is in large part down to the excellent source material.

“He is a remarkable playwright and one of the things that is very interesting to me watching Raft Rafta is that even though Ayub Khan-Din has done a fantastic job you can tell that the strength at the heart of the play comes from Naughton.”

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