Lungs

“It’s like you’ve punched me in the face then asked me a maths question!” says a woman, recoiling from her partner’s suggestion that they might like to have a child.

The presence, or lack, of a baby is the bomb that detonates this pin-sharp, dialogue-heavy two-hander by Duncan Macmillan. In Paines Plough’s brilliantly conceived metallic Roundabout theatre, a couple circle each other like pack wolves one minute, and pine and paw at each other the next. In-the-round, we recognise and share the ebb and flow of a familiar relationship.

Is there a human pull stronger than the urge to procreate? But what if that doesn’t stack up, environmentally? Intellectually? What rational adult would blindly stumble into overpopulation by spewing out yet more “car-driving, avocado-importing” humans? And does it make a difference if you’re a “good” person?

Actors Sian Reese-Williams and Abdul Salis sizzle at times, perfectly encapsulating twitchy, educated, middle class, mid-30s anxieties and inertia, born of a world that is falling apart at the seams.

In every sense, there are plenty of bumps along the way as our fretful couple wrestle their zeitgeisty dilemma – “but if we think about it too much…” begs our man, the audience mouthing the words.

Occasionally mired in such agonies of procrastination, Macmillan’s deliciously quotable script pulses and races. You take a deep breath, watch the talky ping-pong zip back and forth and before you know it, a life has flashed before our eyes leaving behind a thousand questions. Something, perhaps, not just parents can identify with.