The National Theatre revival of Dodie Smith's Dear Octopus begins performances February 7. Emily Burns is directing the revival, which marks the first U.K. production since the 1960s. It will play the London venue through March 27. An official opening night is slated for February 14.
Set on the eve of WWII, the play centers on the Randolph family, who have reunited for a 50th wedding anniversary, but as the weekend unfolds, the family grapples with intimacy and estrangement, camaraderie and rivalry, and love and hate.
The cast includes Amaia Naima Aguinaga, Alice Bounsall, Bessie Carter, Pandora Colin, Miriam Cooper, Bethan Cullinane, Lindsay Duncan, Kate Fahy, Tom Glenister, Jo Herbert, Billy Howle, Ethan Hughes, Deven Modha, Syakira Moeladi, Amy Morgan, Celia Nelson, Dharmesh Patel, Malcolm Sinclair, Natalie Thomas, and John Vernon. They're joined by nine children who will perform the roles of Kathleen (Scrap), Bill and Guinevere (Flouncy) over the course of the season: Kalyani D’Ambra, Ariella Elkins-Green, Serena Guo, Isla Ithier, Molly Jin, Felix Tandon, Ashwin Sakthivel, Tarun Sivakanesh, and Asha Sthanakiya.
The production features set and costume design by Frankie Bradshaw, lighting design by Oliver Fenwick, sound design by Tingying Dong, composing by Nico Mulhy, casting direction by Bryony Jarvis-Taylor, company voice work by Shereen Ibrahim and Liz Flint, and staff direction by Júlia Levai.
For tickets and more information, visit NationalTheatre.org.
