Sir Alan Ayckbourn's Private Fears in Public Places' could well have been written about Putney.

The play, one of the writer's more darker offerings, is being performed at Putney Arts Theatre next week and tells the story of six Londoners struggling to cope with relationships, careers and families as their lives, seemingly unconnected at first, begin to collide.

"As soon as I read Private Fears I knew that Putney was the ideal place to produce it," says director Stuart Watson.

"The area is packed with people like the characters in the play.

"Young – but not so young as they used to be – professionals who came to the big city to find themselves and make their mark, but are now stopping to take stock of their lives and wondering what all their efforts add up to.”

The play, which previously toured Britain in 2005 and ran at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond and sold out on New York's Broadway, is hailed by critics as one of Ayckbourn’s most significant and perceptive works.

It was also adapted for the big screen by French director, Alain Resnais, in 2006, titled Coeurs, meaning Hearts.

Private Fears in Public Places, Putney Arts Theatre, Ravenna Road, June 22 to 26, 7.45pm, £5 to £10. Call 020 8788 6943 or visit putneyartstheatre.org.uk.