Bringing the backstage onstage has long been a device employed by theatre-makers seeking to expose the inner workings of their craft to closer inspection. In Pocket Music, we find ourselves in the company of two actors in search of an audience, as a pair of old-time thespians set about preparing for the performance of a lifetime.

All is not as it should be. Arriving late for rehearsal, Cecily (Camille Ross) wastes no time in announcing that she is planning to quit show business for a more stable job elsewhere. However, her long-standing partner Vivienne (Donncha O'Dea) is not going to let her leave without a fight.

What looks initially to be a straightforward conflict of wills becomes increasingly complicated as events unfold. Moving through a series of bizarre anecdotes and botched comedy routines, interspersed with the occasional song, one is left increasingly unsure about the nature of the show the pair are actually practicing for, if it even happens at all.

The overall tone is far darker than one might expect from a piece that nods so nostalgically towards the golden age of musical theatre. As a result, even when our troubled duo finally succeed in performing their closing number without a hitch, we are left wondering whether everything that has taken place is nothing more than a warped game, which both are doomed to repeat ad infinitum.

Think Beckett meets Sondheim and you’re just about there.