Review: Susie Dent’s Word Perfect at Harrogate Theatre

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A lexicographer and etymologist, Susie Dent is perhaps best known as the queen of Countdown’s dictionary corner. In her touring show, Word Perfect, Dent is just as its title suggests: a linguistic virtuoso and a walking encyclopaedia of wonderful words.

Delving into the many quirks and curiosities of the English language, Dent’s passion is infectious and her knowledge vast. She marvels at the evocative nature of words, championing favourites like apricity, meaning the warmth of the sun on a winter's day, as well as hugely pleasing collective nouns like a ‘waddle of penguins’.

She delights at the sheer number of terms we as a nation have for drunkenness, and she takes us back in time to the origins of slang terms like ‘Happy as Larry’ and ‘Jack the Lad’. Particularly amusing are examples she shares of nominative determinism, from a policeman named Rob Banks to an optometrist called I.C. Notting. You couldn’t write it.

While championing words almost forgotten to the annals of time, Dent, too, celebrates the continuous evolution of language, and her desire for new words, to express moments or feelings that hitherto have no single-word definition in English.

As one would expect from a wordsmith, Dent is as articulate and eloquent as they come, her anecdotes engaging and her segues faultless. With great humour and warmth, Word Perfect is a sublime example of how an essentially academic subject can appeal to all, from the overly competitive scrabble player through to the teenager assimilating TikTok slang. With some hilarious video and audio clips and some (very gentle) audience participation, Dent’s show is anything but fusty.

Sometimes divisive (Dent attempts to settle the ‘scone’ debate), but more often that which unites us, words are so much of what make us who we are. Word Perfect is a reminder of just how wonderful and magical language can be, and how it has no bounds.

Word Perfect is on tour until March 2027.

Lauren Crisp is a book editor, writer and keen follower of arts and culture. She reviews theatre and cultural events in and around the district in her spare time.

You can contact Lauren on laurencrispwriter@gmail.com.