THE first national tour of Torben Betts’ Invincible comes to Malvern this week for a five-day run at the town’s Festival Theatre.

It’s presented by the Original Theatre Company and Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds and the play has the recession biting hard.

Emily and Oliver have decided 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.

Torben Betts said of the new production of his play: “I've always been impressed by Original Theatre Company. I’m delighted they are 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.”

The play, which opens at the Festival on Tuesday (June 14) and runs through to Saturday, June 18, had its world premiere at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond in 2014 and transferred later that same year to St James Theatre, London. It received great critical acclaim.