Invincible at South Hill Park

A NEW play is the ‘funniest and best’ in the last 25 years according to its lead.

Invincible by Torben Betts is touring the UK with Original Theatre Company.

With the recession biting hard, Emily and Oliver decide to downsize and shift their middle-class London lifestyle to a small town in the north of England.

One night, they open their doors to their next door neighbours, Dawn and Alan. Over the course of a disastrous evening of olives, anchovies, Karl Marx and abstract art, class and culture collide, resulting in consequences that are both tragic and hilarious.

Taking to the stage as Oliver is Alistair Whatley who most recently directed the UK tour of Shadowlands.

He said: “On the surface you have two stereotypes meeting and it is hilarious, but then the next minute it’ll completely change.

“You can hear the audience going from laughter to crying.

“I think it is the funniest play that has been written in the last 25 years and certainly one of the best.

“You could invite anyone from any walk of life to watch this play and I could guarantee they would have a great night out.”

As a touring actor for more than 10 years, Alistair has seen his fair share of the country.

“I spend 95 per cent of the time in towns and cities across the country and I live out of a suitcase,” said the 32-year-old.

“You get to meet people that are larger than life.

“You see the people that are out and about when we come out of a show at 10.30pm and the ones who are in the coffee shops in the day.”

Invincible was first shown at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond in 2014 before moving to St James Theatre in London where it received great critical acclaim.

The tour is the first time audiences outside of London will see the play.

Playwright Torben Betts said: “I’m delighted Original Theatre Company is touring Invincible this year.

“It is, amongst other things, a play about the North/South divide so it will be interesting to see what audiences away from and north of London make of it.”

Invincible is at South Hill Park on Tuesday, April 26.