FACT and fiction will appear to merge in a very British drama at Malvern Theatres, set in buttoned-up Victorian days and upon the high seas.

The play, "Lady Anna: All At Sea", is set in 1871, the high-water mark of the British Empire, and it will entertain local audiences from Monday, September 26 to Saturday, October 1.

The plot that will ask, what is proper in love, life and, indeed, in English literature?

And should a girl who is a lady never marry a man who is not a gentleman?

A spokesman said: "The Production Exchange has announced the national tour of its award-nominated production of Lady Anna: All At Sea, following its highly acclaimed run at the Park Theatre London in the summer of 2015.

"It's 1871, and celebrated novelist Anthony Trollope is Australia bound aboard the steamship Great Britain. Accompanied by his wife Rose and her maid Isabella, Trollope passes the time by writing his latest tale, Lady Anna. The story, full of intrigue, rebellion and social politics, proves divisive among his fellow passengers – and it's not long before fact and fiction overlap in a dramatic and witty fashion. Is Trollope himself a surprising radical pitted against the status quo – or are his characters to blame for the controversy?"

The spokesman added: "This abundantly British business involves a disputed title, fraud, bigamy, a legal case, madness and even attempted murder. An extraordinary set of circumstances finds both Lady Anna and Trollope facing some very difficult questions indeed – but will they follow their hearts and risk being disgraced?"

Tickets are on sale at the Box Office 01684 892277 and online at malvern-theatres.co.uk