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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Kate Wyver

Dear Octopus review – Lindsay Duncan leads a warm drama about a bickering family

Lindsay Duncan Dodie Smith Marc Brenner
Tearing at the edges … (from left) Kate Fahy (Belle), Billy Howle (Nicholas), Lindsay Duncan (Dora), Ariella Elkins-Green (Flouncy), Isla Ithier (Scrap) and Amy Morgan (Margery) in Dear Octopus at the National Theatre.
Tearing at the edges … (from left) Kate Fahy (Belle), Billy Howle (Nicholas), Lindsay Duncan (Dora), Ariella Elkins-Green (Flouncy), Isla Ithier (Scrap) and Amy Morgan (Margery) in Dear Octopus at the National Theatre. Photograph: Marc Brenner

Sneaking downstairs when he should really be in bed, mischievous young Bill (Felix Tandon) declares the old house to be restless. With four generations of his family scampering about the grand country home where memories are packed tight into every nook and cranny, fraught relationships are being fixed and secrets are being shared, it’s no wonder the child can’t be lulled to sleep.

Lindsay Duncan in Dear Octopus.
Sharp and soft … Lindsay Duncan in Dear Octopus. Photograph: Marc Brenner
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