By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Friday 9 February, opens 14 February and runs through 27 March 2024 2024 RUNTIME: 165 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

The beating heart of this play about family by The Hundred And One Dalmatians author Dodie Smith is the unlikely romance between Dora and Charles Randolph’s son Nicholas, played by Billy Howle, and family friend Fenny.

• Read on for reasons including how Dear Octopus was soapy but swimmingly entertaining

Written in 1938, 18 years before Dalmatians, Dear Octopus is set in the village home of the Randolphs as they celebrate their golden wedding anniversary on the eve of World War Two as they reckon with the adults their returning children have become.

Director Emily Burns shows us the Lyttelton’s full revolve as the action opens and we glimpse Dora’s young companion Fenny, brought to life marvellously by Bessie Carter (from TV’s Bridgerton Q&A), waiting outside the family’s dining room for the Randolphs middle-aged children to arrive for the weekend’s celebrations.

There’s clearly a spark between her and 35-year-old Nicholas, Howle giving us kindheartedness but also infuriating naivety, as we come to learn that everyone else is aware of Fenny’s feelings for him although somehow he is oblivious to them.

Duncan’s (Hansard, Lyttelton, National Theatre) matriarch Ruth is the reason we are here and she doesn’t disappoint being delightfully catty about the return of relative Belle, of a similar years to herself and, infuriatingly for Ruth, ageing rather well.

Elsewhere Bethan Cullinane’s favourite daughter Cynthia is returning home under a cloud after a mysterious 7 years away in Paris harbouring a family secret she’s not especially keen to divulge.

Amy Morgan’s sibling Margery is tiring of people referring to her weight yet happy enough in her marriage with 2 children to send her husband out flirting with Fenny to test Nicholas’ resolve at the family’s dance and high-flying businesswoman sister Hilda, an excellent, pent-up Jo Herbert, is struggling with OCD.

Families, eh? The titular octopus is a reference during Nicholas’ toast to the Randolphs: ‘The family – that dear octopus from whose tentacles we never quite escape, nor, in our inmost hearts, ever quite wish to.’

And this is an affectionate portrait of the trials and tribulations of family life but also the stability it offers during the circle of life as old age and death begin to hover.

With such a large cast we can see why Dear Octopus isn’t performed more often and this is a respectful production which is very low on plot but is occasionally funny and elevated by the star wattage of Duncan at its heart.

We were reminded of the good-natured thrill of the romance in TV’s original of The Office or film Four Weddings And A Funeral by the love story here and Dear Octopus was soapy but swimmingly entertaining.

• Main picture via Facebook courtesy National Theatre
• Have you seen Lindsay Duncan onstage before and what did you think? Tickets
• Let us know what you thought in the comments below
• Enjoyed this review? Follow monstagigz on Twitter @NeilDurham, email neildurham3@gmail.com and check us out on Instagram and Facebook