TORBEN Betts has not one, but two plays playing in Yorkshire in the weeks ahead.

First up, the Original Theatre Company's tour of his class-war comedy Invincible visits Hull Truck Theatre from tomorrow until Thursday.

Next, his new state-of-the-nation political and family drama The National Joke will be given its world premiere on various dates between June 8 and August 20 at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, where the Lincolnshire-born Betts made his breakthrough as resident playwright under Alan Ayckbourn's artistic directorship in 1999.

More of The National Joke in The Press nearer the time, but first let's turn the spotlight on Invincible's darkly comic skewering of the North/South divide, premiered at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, in 2014 and now directed on its debut national tour by Christopher Harper.

York Press:

Playwright Torben Betts

As the recession bites 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 invite their next-door neighbours, Dawn and Alan, an ex Royal Navy chef on the Invincible.

Over the course of a disastrous evening of olives, anchovies, Karl Marx and abstract art, class and culture collide with both tragic and humorous consequences.

"It's a very English play about a very middle-class couple fleeing London to live in the 'real country', the north" says Torben. "Emily's a real Bennite; Oliver is a Miliband supporter, and when they invite their neighbours, it's the perfect awkward English interaction of middle-class lefties meeting 'traditional' northerners."

The play may be English, but it has turned out to have universal appeal. "Productions are going on in Spain, Argentina, Poland and the Czech Republic, with Madrid and Bilbao coming up in September, which took me by surprise as I thought the North/South divide was very much the stuff of an English play," says Torben.

"I started writing it when there was a lot of flag-waving going on with the Olympics in London, the Diamond Jubilee celebrations and England taking part in football's UEFA European Championships.

"But at the same time we were all feeling the recession, the bankers were awarding themselves huge bonuses, and soldiers were coming home in boxes from Afghanistan, so I couldn't understand what we were celebrating, and I reflected my confusion in Invincible."

York Press:

Emily Bowker as Emily and Graeme Brookes as Alan in Invincible. Picture: Jack Ladenburg

The impetus behind Invincible was Torben's own experiences. "I'd moved out of London ten years ago to move back up to the north, and was also one of many who was not a fan of the invasion of Iraq, being of a left-leaning persuasion," he recalls. "I was having this discussion about the Government and British Army not always being a force for good, when I very nearly got beaten up by this Afghanistan War veteran."

Intellect versus emotion, reason versus 'un-reason', can be found at the core of Invincible. "It's a serious play making serious points, about social inequality, but it's also funny throughout; uncomfortable humour, not gags, where people recognise the situations," says Torben.

"The Daily Mail thought I was just bashing po-faced Leftie liberals; other reviews interpreted it differently, but if there's a hero and heroine in this play, though it's not for me to say, it's those who are born without privileges and advantages."

Invincible runs at Hull Truck Theatre, tomorrow until Thursday, 7.30pm. Box office: 01482 323638 or at hulltruck.co.uk