Darlington Hippodrome – until Saturday 2 March 2019
2**
Branded a new farce, Octopus Soup arrived into Darlington on its first UK tour.
With a host of familiar faces, this comedy is a tale of two acts – with one much funnier than the other.
Insurance Consultant Seymour (Nick Hancock) is hoping to pitch his ideas to head of a global insurance firm, Virginia (Gillian Bevan). His attempts to do this are stopped by bungling burglar Marvin (Paul Bradley). But Marvin comes up with an idea to combine insurance and burglary. Throw in Seymour’s actress wife Gloria (Carolyn Backhouse) and Marvin’s criminal mastermind boss Alan (Eric Richard) and a pet octopus named Terry and you have your plot.
Bradley is the star turn, mispronouncing words but charming all around him. But Hancock works well with him, getting frustrated at the ensuing stupidity surrounding him.
The tale does cover the ethics of good versus bad, the idea that insurance and bankers are as much crooks as the burglars and robbers and there is a lot of swearing – and I do mean A LOT!
The clear star of the show is Anthony Lamble’s set, depicting Seymour’s living room in his bungalow.
This is only the beginning of the tour for this new show, so it may still be finding its way and may be worth a return visit towards the end of this run. If you enjoy a gentle comedy then this may be the show for you.
In Darlington until Saturday 2 March and on tour around the UK