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Dear Octopus

by Dodie Smith

Booking and details

7 February — 27 March 2024
This show has now ended
The event location is

Lyttelton Theatre

National Theatre, South Bank, London SE1 9PX

The family, from whose tentacles we can never quite escape

When a golden wedding anniversary reunites the Randolph family on the eve of WWII, Dora and Charles must reckon with the adults their children have become. Their children, meanwhile, are haunted by the memory of the family they once were.

As the weekend’s celebrations unfold, the family walks a tightrope between intimacy and estrangement, camaraderie and rivalry, love and hate.

Heartbreaking and joyful, this captivating revival of Dodie Smith’s (I Capture the Castle) play is a moving dissection of family and what it means to grow up and return home.

Lindsay Duncan (Hansard) plays Dora in this beautiful, contemporary production, directed by Emily Burns (Jack Absolute Flies Again).

Gallery

Three girls (aged under 10) with brunette hair in ponytails sit at a wooden table holding pens and writing in notebooks. A man (30s) with short black hair wearing a pink jumper and a woman (30s) wit shoulder length hair wearing a red jumper, stands behind the three girls.
Three girls (aged under 10) with brunette hair in ponytails sit at a wooden table holding pens and writing in notebooks. A man (30s) with short black hair wearing a pink jumper and a woman (30s) wit shoulder length hair wearing a red jumper, stands behind the three girls.
Three girls (aged under 10) with brunette hair in ponytails sit at a wooden table holding pens and writing in notebooks. A man (30s) with short black hair wearing a pink jumper and a woman (30s) wit shoulder length hair wearing a red jumper, stands behind the three girls.
View 14 images
Two girls (under 10) stand smiling behing a black wooden rocking horse with blonde hair. The girl on the left has long brunette hair. The girl on the right has long brunette hair in two plaits, wearing a beige jumper. On the left, a woman (60s) with short blonde hair with glasses on her head wears a green cardigan and a black turtleneck. She sits in a green velvet chair. On the right, a woman (30s) with long brunette hair sits on a red velvet chair holding a script. She wears a brown jumper. A woman (30s) with shoulder length brunette hair wears a dark grey jumper and white t-shirt. She points to the left. A woman (30s) with brunette curly hair tied up in a ponytail holds a gey wicker basket. She smiles at another brunette woman. In the background a woman with cropped brunette hair looks on smiling. She wears a maroon t-shirt, green cardigan and blue jeans. Two girls (under 10) and one boy (under 10) sit at a wooden table with pens in their hands. A woman (70s) with shoulder length brunette hair sits at a table with a green table cloth and a white and blue tea cup. She wears a black jumper. On the left, a woman (70s) with brunette hair wears a black jumper. On the right, a man (70s) with white hair wears a navy blue cardigan. They both look at a woman (40s) standing in the centre. She wears a bright orange cardigan, pink gloves and brown glasses. A woman (70s) with white hair tied in a ponytail wears a navy blue buttoned jacket. She is smiling. A man (70s) with white hair and a moustache holds spectacles and looks forelorn. He wears a denim button down shirt and a navy blue jacket. A man (late 20s) wearing a yellow and blue checked shirt looks on at a woman (20s) with long brunette hair wearing a pink cardigan. On the right a woman (20s) with long brunette hair wearing a black t-shirt. Death of England: Closing Time artwork, with the title treatment in a white gothic font on a red background.

Suitability

Please note: this production contains themes of familial bereavement and death.

Cast includes

Amaia Naima Aguinaga photo portrait

Amaia Naima Aguinaga

Understudy Laurel

Alice Bounsall photo portrait

Alice Bounsall

Understudy Cynthia & Hilda

Bessie Carter photo portrait

Bessie Carter

Fenny

Pandora Colin photo portrait

Pandora Colin

Edna

Miriam Cooper

Understudy Nanny & Gertrude

Bethan Cullinane photo portrait

Bethan Cullinane

Cynthia

Lindsay Duncan

Dora

Kate Fahy photo portrait

Kate Fahy

Belle Schlessinger

Tom Glenister photo portrait

Tom Glenister

Hugh / Understudy Nicholas

Jo Herbert photo portrait

Jo Herbert

Hilda

Billy Howle photo portrait

Billy Howle

Nicholas

Ethan Hughes photo portrait

Ethan Hughes

Understudy Hugh

Deven Modha photo portrait

Deven Modha

Understudy Kenneth

Syakira Moeladi photo portrait

Syakira Moeladi

Laurel & Understudy Fenny

Amy Morgan photo portrait

Amy Morgan

Margery

Celia Nelson

Celia Nelson

Nanny Patching / Understudy Dora & Belle

Dharmesh Patel photo portrait

Dharmesh Patel

Kenneth

Malcolm Sinclair photo portrait

Malcolm Sinclair

Charles

Natalie Thomas photo portrait

Natalie Thomas

Gertrude the Parlourmaid / Understudy Edna & Margery

John Vernon photo portrait

John Vernon

Understudy Charles

Production team

Director

Emily Burns

Set and Costume Designer

Frankie Bradshaw

Frankie Bradshaw

Lighting Designer

Oliver Fenwick

Oliver Fenwick

Sound Designer

Tingying Dong

Tingying Dong

Composer

Nico Muhly

Casting Director

Bryony Jarvis-Taylor

Company Voice Work

Shereen Ibrahim

Shereen Ibrahim

Company Voice Work

Liz Flint

Staff Director

Júlia Levai

Associate Sound Designer

Joel Price

Ticket prices

Monday – Thursday evenings and all matinees:
£20, £36, £46, £66, £86, £96

Friday & Saturday evenings:
£20, £39, £49, £69, £89, £99

Previews 7 – 12 February:
£20, £30, £36, £46, £56, £76

For concessions and discounts, see Ways to save

Please note the 6.30pm start time on the following performances: Tue 20 Feb, Thu 29 Feb, Tue 5 Mar and Thu 14 Mar.

Visit our Ticketing FAQs for information on how to book, ticket exchanges and more.

Prices may change according to demand

What's on guide

Download a pdf of the latest guide (1.4MB)

Assisted performances

No Captioned performances available.

No BSL Interpreted performances available.

No Audio described performances available.

No Chilled performance available.

No Dementia-friendly performances available.

No Sensory adapted performances available.

The interpreter for the BSL performance will be Taz Hockaday.

Audio-described performances are preceded by a Touch Tour, 90 minutes before the performance start time. Call the Access line on 020 7452 3961 to book Touch Tours.

We have an allocation of tickets held for members of our Access scheme and if any of the assisted performances above are shown as “Sold Out”, tickets may still be available: Please log in to your account to view all available tickets, or call Box Office on 020 7452 3961

Smart caption glasses

Are planned to be available for performances of Dear Octopus from 7.30pm, Wednesday 21 February.

 

 

Photography (Lindsay Duncan) by Kelvin Murray.