‘This is a real winner from the first minute to the very bitter end - one of the best productions I've seen at the Octagon in ages. And that's saying something’

The Bolton News

‘The Octagon delivers a poignant and funny look behind the scenes at one of the great British institutions... It's another quality offering from a theatre which time after time delivers productions of the highest quality ’

Lancashire Evening Telegraph

Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle And Dick is a hilarious, poignant and affectionate tribute to a landmark in British comedy history, the Carry On films, and three of its best-loved (and most troubled) stars.

The setting is Sid James’s caravan-cum-dressing room at Pinewood Studios, with the action spanning the filming of four of the classic films, from the great Carry On Cleo in 1964 to the final Carry On Emmanuelle in 1978.

Whilst you would imagine that filming is something of a glamorous business, Sid’s finding it hard going - his caravan’s sprung a leak, his strained relationship with acidic co-star Kenneth Williams is veering more towards hate than love, and the young women (and there are many) are becoming harder to impress. Then onto the set wiggles Babs Windsor, a feisty, loud-mouthed, buxom blonde who gives just as good as she gets - and Sid falls hopelessly in lust. As the years pass, their unconventional relationship develops, whilst Sid’s health and the quality of the films slowly deteriorate.

Winner of the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy in 1999, Terry Johnson’s beautifully crafted comic play is part homage, part farce with a little bit of tragedy thrown in, and is directed by award-winning Paul Hunter, director of recent Octagon productions Accidental Death Of An Anarchist and The Beauty Queen Of Leenane.