YOU may well have seen the poster: the one with the baby with the Hitler smudge of a moustache, advertising the play What's In A Name?

A French hit by Matthew Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière, premiered as Le Prènom in Paris in 2010, this ferocious 90-minute comedy has since been translated into 22 languages. A hit in anyone's language!

Jeremy Sams adapted and directed the English debut production for Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 2017, and he now oversees an entirely new cast for the first British tour, mounted by Adam Blanshay Productions .

Among the eight venues will be the Grand Opera House in York, from October 8 to 12, when the cast will include York debutants Bo Poraj, Laura Patch and Alex Gaumond, as well as The Inbetweeners, Fresh Meat and The Festival star Joe Thomas.

The setting is a particularly awkward family dinner party, relocated to a Peckham flat in the English version, hosted by Elizabeth and her husband, Peter, who have invited her brother, father-to-be-Vincent and his partner Anna, joined by childhood friend Carl.

A Moroccan meal is lovingly prepared and wine carefully selected; cue the usual humorous exchanges among friends....until a startling revelation about the name chosen for Vincent and Anna’s imminent child triggers a destructive argument that spirals out of control [even though Vincent protests the name was inspired by Adolphe, a classic French novel by Benjamin Constant, published in 1816].

No-one holds back as egos, childish resentments and unspoken feelings are exposed for the first time.

"It's definitely English in character now," says Bo, who plays host Peter. "It migrates really well from France to Peckham, stylistically changing to English sensibilities, but perhaps slightly heightened for farce. Jeremy has done a great job of seamlessly making it feel English, but at the same time the things that are expressed in the play - how arguments start - are universal, not just French!"

What's in a name for Bo? Well, he was born in Britain to Polish parents, his full name being Bohdan. "I think they gave me a Polish name because they thought we would be going back to Poland." he says. "My children's names are not solid, traditional names, but not too wacky either: two boys,Gabriel and Joel."

Peter, his character in What's In A Name?, is a university professor of language. "So language is his speciality and he feels he can take the moral high ground on this particular subject." says Bo.

"But he's also witty and cheeky and says the things we all might have thought, and with his ability to use language he believes he should always have the final word, so he spends a lot of time ranting."

The play takes place in real time, as the Moroccan dishes are prepared and eaten, the arguments break out and everything falls apart. "Stage management will be cooking the food for us each show," says Bo. "In the first week of rehearsals, they took us all out to this lovely Moroccan restaurant in Covent Garden, so we got to taste what the dishes should taste like!"

Laura Patch takes on the role of Peter's wife, Elizabeth, who gives him his comeuppance after being gradually sidelined through the meal.

"It's a very funny play, a very fast-paced dark comedy and a lot of fun to perform,” she says. “There’s a lot of good stuff in there. Never a dull moment.

“It’s very much a British piece now; it certainly feels completely authentic to Britain in 2019. Its humour is rooted in reality, more than in the world of farce, as we see what happens when people who know each other well get together and fall out.

“The joy of it is how the play throws all the chips in the air and then sees how they land – though it’s all all right in the end.The message here is that because of friendship and love, whatever happens, we will be OK.”

Hostess Elizabeth wants to “feed her family, nourish them, make everyone feel good”, but “slowly she ‘wakes up’ as she gets a lot of little slaps in the face, metaphorically speaking,” says Laura.

”She’d love it to be all about the food, but everything becomes about everything else, and then she thinks, ‘hang on; it’s OK for me to say what I feel’, and that’s an empowering journey for her. She’s a strong character.”

Food plays a prominent role in What’s In A Name? “It’s my first ‘full meal’ play. I’ve done ‘nibbles plays’ before, but we really do have to eat the food,” says Laura. “There’s no time for getting supper otherwise, so I’m going to have to make the most of these 90 minutes…and luckily I love Moroccan dishes.”

Having children of her own, Laura can relate to the challenges of naming a child. “It’s whether you want to go with something classical and solid or something a bit way out,” she says. “Both have their merits and their disadvantages.”

Alex Gaumond plays Carl, Elizabeth’s best friend since childhood days in the Lake District, following up his role as Paul in Marianne Elliott’s multi-Olivier award-winning revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Company in the West End.

“Carl’s definitely more of a diplomat, because he’s not a sibling. He always tries not to start a new argument or escalate things, but to side with whoever best to diffuse the situation,” says French-Canadian Alex, cast in an English role.

“Maybe that’s a Canadian thing; we’re fairly diplomatic! I have my opinions but I judge when to join in a heated argument, though I will always play the diplomat.”

In a dark-hued comedy of ups and downs and sudden revelations, “liquid courage is applied by the end, when alcohol has been consumed and tempers become enflamed,” says Alex. “But there are poignant moments about family too, making people think about their own families or maybe about things that have not been resolved and need addressing.

“Tongues have been held for some time by everyone in the play but things that need to be said are being said at last. By the time alcohol has gone through the body, the debate escalates from politics into something more unpleasant because there aren’t the social boundaries of an office party, as they all know each other so well already.”

And finally, what’s in a French-Canadian name for Alex? “We don’t have any amusing names in my family that I can think of,” he says.

What’s In A Name?, Grand Opera House, York, October 8 to 12. Box office: 0844 871 3024 or at atgtickets.com/York