Summer Festival: Octopus

The Wardrobe Theatre

Key Information
  • Dates Thu 13 Jun 2024 - Sun 16 Jun 2024
  • Location The Wardrobe Theatre
  • Tickets

    Single £10
    Double Bill £15
    Season Ticket £40

  • Creative Team

    Written by Afsaneh Gray
    Directed by Lydia Scott Johnson
    Designed by Sarah Tring

“British values… It’s money, isn’t it? That’s what ‘value’ means – how much you earn. That’s what people care about.”

Dystopian Britain. Any citizen with ‘non-indigenous’ grandparents is ordered to go through a state-assessed evaluation of Britishness. Sara, Sarah and Scheherazade await their fate in an immigration centre. Three women. Three different stories. One interviewer. What’s it going to be? 

Examining themes of identity, perception and feminism, Octopus is a comedy which challenges and celebrates in equal measure, all whilst set to a pulsating soundtrack of 90s pop and riot grrl punk.

This play is showing as a double bill with Shook. Find out more about the BOVTS Summer Festival at the Wardrobe Theatre here.

Cast

Sheherazade Emaan Durrani and Nadia Kamalli (Sunday only)
Sara Shaniya Hira
Sarah Isobel Twist

Creative, Technical & Production Staff

Director Lydia Scott Johnson
Designer Sarah Tring
Voice & Dialect Coach Katy Sobey
Production Manager Steve O’Brien
Production Supervisors Bryony Rutter & Kim Towler
Stage Manager Freja Abrahams
Deputy Stage Manager Will Tucker
Assistant Stage Manager Abby Haigh
LX Designer & Operator Ellie Beddell-Garner
Sound Designer & Operator Kit Gannon
Costume Supervisor Georgina Clissold
Costume Makers Georgina Clissold & Lee Dartnell
Prop Making Supervisor Esther McDonald-McLuckie
Prop Makers Zoe Del Carlo, Kit Gannon, Shellie London, Jack McMahon, Frankie Neville, Aidan Toombs, Chris Wierzbicki
Construction Managers Jocelyn Chen & Joe Collins
Construction Assistants Alice Boal, Alex Harrison, Jacob Manston, Max O’Malley-Mesher, Izzy Phillips, Archie Tong

Training at BOVTS set me up with the skillset, confidence and connections for the career I now have as a freelance theatre designer. Max Johns, MA Performance Design Alumni