We've all been to those awkward family gatherings where someone accidentally says something they shouldn't, opening up a barrel of secrets that cause more trouble than their worth.

That's the premise behind Festen (The Celebration) at Putney Arts Theatre next week, except the family secret is not revealed as an accident and it's so huge that I'm not going to tell you what it is because it will spoil the entire play.

"It is about what happens at a family gathering when someone stands up and says a secret so appalling that nobody knows what to do with it, whether they should believe it or not or to pretend that it never happened," says director Stuart Watson.

"If anybody has ever been to a family gathering where someone has opened up a can of worms from the past they will recognise this.

"We become different people when we go back in the arms of our family, we are the people we were as kids not the people we are as adults."

Festen was originally a 1998 movie by Danish film makers that was the start of a new genre of films, Dogme, a rebellion against Hollywood that includes a number of rules, including only using hand held cameras and no artificial lighting.

It was adapted into a play by writer David Eldridge that premiered in 2004, and Watson admits he fell in love with it when he saw it in Windsor a year later.

"It was a funny place to see a play like this and the audience were a bit phased by it," he says.

"Nobody knew when to laugh or even if it was funny but there is quite a lot of dark humour in it.

"As it progressed you could really feel the electricity begin to build in the theatre and there are moments where the audience is absolutely transfixed.

"You could hear a pin drop and I sat watching it completely absorbed so ever since then I have wanted to do have a go at it."

Festen (The Celebration), Putney Arts Theatre, Ravenna Road, June 23 to 27, 7.45pm, £10. Call 020 8788 6943 or visit putneyartstheatre.org.uk.