When schoolgirl Evie's boyfriend persuades her to let him film her performing a sex act, then posts it on the internet, her parents Kate and Tom decide it's time to leave London. They buy a Welsh farmhouse, previously the home of Huw and his teenage son Cian, who have taken up residence in a caravan in a field. But with Tom in London most of the week, Kate and Evie discover that they both have need of Huw and Cian in different ways. It's only when the self-styled "Alpha male" returns home that things turn nasty.
It's been a remarkably prolific year for Gary Owen – with Love Steals Us from Loneliness for National Theatre Wales and Mrs Reynolds and the Ruffian at Watford under his belt – and this hugely enjoyable comedy of bad town-and-country manners is a reminder of what a singular voice he is, capable of prodding at all our hypocrisies and showing the worst, but also the best, of which we are all capable. He's a hugely moral writer, but the message is always delivered with mischievous glee.
There's much fun to be had as Huw increasingly proves a thorn in the side of Tom's plans to expand his little empire, and Owen doesn't hold back in lopping everybody down to size.
Terry Hands's beautifully designed, minimalist production has a sly comic edge, although it slightly fluffs the farcical ending. And the writing doesn't always find an even tone, not least because neither Kate nor Tom are convincing as parents or spouses, and only spring fully into life in their encounters with Huw. The acting honours and the moral high ground belong to the younger generation, Amy Morgan's Evie and Rhys Wadley's Cian, who find that love tastes so much better than revenge.
Until 20 November. Box office: 0845 330 3565.
