North West Theatre

Secret Thoughts

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David Lodge
12 May 11 to 04 Jun 11
Octagon Theatre

Married professor Ralph Messenger has a reputation as a ground-breaking cognitive scientist and a notorious philanderer. When he meets the recently bereaved novelist Helen Reed, sparks fly and battle commences. It’s science against art and morality against indulgence.

But as their passionate and argumentative relationship develops into sexual attraction, their intellectual foreplay looks like it could become a full-blown affair of the body and mind.

World Premiere of Secret Thoughts at Bolton Octagon

In Bolton Octagon’s World Premiere of Secret Thoughts, a stage adaptation of David Lodge’s critically acclaimed novel Thinks... married university professor Ralph Messenger has a reputation as a ground-breaking cognitive scientist and a notorious philanderer.
City Life

Five Reasons To See....Secret Thoughts

Actress Kate Coogan is no stranger to the North West stage. She is currently starring alongside Rob Edwards in David Lodge's Secret Thoughts at the Bolton Octagon. Kate gives Five Reasons why you should see this new play.
What's On Stage

David Lodge’s adaptation... works well although there is a slightly disjointed feel with the cerebral parts in the first half of the play and the second half more plot-driven... David Thacker's expert direction ensures that, although dialogue-heavy, the play succeeds as a stage vehicle... imaginative set design of Ciaran Bagnall... [Rob] Edwards and [Kate] Coogan have excellent chemistry and convince both as conflicted lovers and academics... Thought-provoking, moving and very funny, indeed. We need more plays like David Lodge's Secret Thoughts.
What's On Stage (Rating: 4/5)
Lodge's novel boils down neatly into an intellectually and erotically charged dialogue on the nature of the mind... cannot quite eradicate the sense that some of the cerebral jousting has a more natural home in a novel than on stage... Kate Coogan impressively mines the core of Reed's repressed Catholicism; Rob Edwards conveys Messenger's arrogance without making him repellent. David Thacker's cool, considered production gives the impression of a show that may be easier to admire than adore...
The Guardian (Rating: 3/5)
This simplification [of the novel] emphasises its Mills & Boon qualities... and highlights its patina of Graham Greene grey... Kate Coogan and Rob Edwards, who admirably uncover the emotional truths of their not altogether truthful characters.
The Observer
David Lodge has made an intriguing, intensely witty, brainy play of his own novel... one of the most compelling two-handers imaginable... Rob Edwards... is magnificent... Kate Coogan gives a sharp portrait... Director David Thacker has another triumphant world premiere on his hands.
The Stage
...intelligent and witty script... some fascinating, in-depth discussions about the nature of "self"... on top of a very simple basic story about the relationship between two people and the obstacles they have to try to overcome... Rob Edwards totally believable as the tactless but beguiling scientist... Kate Coogan gets across Reed's continuing grief ... her moral scruples... and a discomfort about frank talk on sex, religion and morality... in a perfectly believable way... David Thacker's subtle but detailed direction allows everything to happen at a fairly slow, hesitant pace, which draws the audience into the world of these characters... funny, engaging, thought-provoking and well-worth a trip to Bolton to see.
British Theatre Guide