Swindon’s Olly Webb is taking the director’s chair in a thought-provoking melodrama based around a Victorian, travelling freak show.

Edward Gant’s Amazing Feats of Loneliness, performed by the Darkroom Theatre Company, is in the Spotlight Room of Swindon’s Wyvern Theatre, tomorrow and Saturday.

Olly said: “I chose this piece because on the surface it is a bizarre yet beautiful meta-theatrical story. It follows Mr Gant and his troupe of Victorian actors telling three tales of lonely people; an abandoned teddy bear; a girl with terrible acne; and a man who lost his great love in a jammy ring incident. Delve deeper and it explores the state of theatre, and the entertainment industry as a whole. Looking at what is true, and what the role of an entertainer should be. Are they purely to entertain? Or can they enlighten people to the real suffering of real people?’’

Olly is directing four actors, Kevin Bray as Edward Gant, Keira Georgeson as Madame Poulet, Ben Thomas as Sergeant Dearlove and Will Davies as Nicky Ludd, with the help of Kira Sawford as assistant director.

The black comedy, written by Anthony Neilson, peels back the layers of the grotesque, the mystery, the magic and the loneliness of the enigmatic impresario and his troupe of misfits. It is based on the first appearance of the travelling freak show in 1881. and delves into the sadness and wonder of such an exhibition of human misfortune.The Darkroom Theatre was set up last year by Olly, Kira, Will and Paul Widdows. Olly said: “Together we want to help create an accessible, inclusive, and diverse company that gives opportunity to professionals and non professionals alike.’’

This is their third production and follows the sell-out success of Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons.

“So far we have performed in one traditional theatre space, a coffeeshop and now the Spotlight Room,’’ said Olly. “The challenges we faced were luckily easily rectified, the Wyvern Theatre has been incredibly helpful and generous in letting a new theatre company try something new and rather strange!’’

The doors and bar open at 7pm and tickets are £10, £8 concession with a age guidance of 14. They are available from www.swindontheatres.co.uk