THE Forsyte Saga is the latest production from the Malvern Theatre Players and it is at Malvern Theatres from Wednesday, May 18, until Saturday, May 21.

This Edwardian family saga which follows the changes of fortune and circumstances of an upper-middle class family at the beginning of the twentieth century is based on a series of three novels by John Galsworthy.

The family are keenly aware of their status as ‘new money’ and Soames, the main character, sees himself as a man of property by virtue of his ability to accumulate material possessions. This does not succeed, however, in bringing him happiness.

The famous trilogy, one of the most absorbing family dramas ever written, has been adapted for the stage by Pat and Derek Hoddinot and the play centres on the relationship between Soames and Irene and how the marriage and later divorce of this disastrously mismatched couple reverberates through the next generation.

Galsworthy highlights the insular, snobbish and acquisitive attitudes of the characters and their suffocating moral codes.

Galsworthy was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1932 and three The Forsyte Saga novels are his most famous and successful books.

The books were famously dramatised by the BBC in a hugely successful 26 part series in 1967 which starred Susan Hampshire, Nyree Dawn Porter and Kenneth Moore.

The MTP stage production is directed by Jan Grieg and is a play full of passion, scandal and tragedy.

It is in Malvern’s Festival Theatre from May 18-21 with performances at 8pm and a matinee on May 21 at 2.30pm.

Tickets cost £12, with tickets for under 26s £8 and £1 concessions for over 60s and unwaged. They are available from the theatre on 01684 892277.