Full cast announced for Dear Octopus at the National Theatre

Dodie Smith’s play, directed by Emily Burns, will have its first revival since the 1960s. Performances begin on 7 February in the Lyttelton theatre.

The National Theatre has revealed the full cast for the upcoming revival of Dodie Smith’s play Dear Octopus, which is set on the eve of World War II.

The full 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.

Nine children will perform the roles of Kathleen (Scrap), Bill and Guinevere (Flouncy) during the season. They include Kalyani D’Ambra, Ariella Elkins-Green, Serena Guo, Isla Ithier, Molly Jin, Felix Tandon, Ashwin Sakthivel, Tarun Sivakanesh, and Asha Sthanakiya.

The play takes place on the eve of World War II, as the Randolph family reunites for a 50th wedding anniversary. As the weekend’s celebrations unfold, the family faces intimacy and estrangement, camaraderie and rivalry, love and hate.

The creative team, led by director Emily Burns, includes Frankie Bradshaw (set and costume designer), Oliver Fenwick (lighting designer), Tingying Dong (sound designer), Nico Mulhy (composer), Bryony Jarvis-Taylor (casting director), Shereen Ibrahim and Liz Flint (company voice work), and Júlia Levai (staff director).

Dear Octopus runs at the Lyttelton theatre from 7 February until 27 March.

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Photo credit: Dear Octopus at the National Theatre. (Photo courtesy of production)