There is a great freedom that comes with being invisible. You can let appearances go, give up all pretence and relax knowing there is no longer any need to be self-conscious. According to Kitty and Mary, this is the great boon that middle-age affords you. Marion O’Dwyer and Maria McDemottroe’s PAYBACK! follows these two school friends on the day assigned for ‘payback’, or more accurately ‘give back’.

McDemottroe's Kitty has tasted of the sweetness that was the Celtic Tiger whilst O’Dwyer’s Mary would never have known it happened. Their parallel lives culminating in a shared decision to leave it all behind to go to Amsterdam to open a B&B suggests that what comes around goes around, and that friendship outlasts most differences. The show has a simple form of introduction, two monologues and a conclusion that leave one wishing for more art, less exposition.

Yet, at no point does the action fall flat, thanks to the McDemottroe and O’Dwyer’s effortless skills as performers. Like Kitty and Mary, you feel these two can only have gained from reaching the age of invisibility, their easy and clear professionalism allowing them to know both who they are and who their audience is, playing both to their own advantage.It’s a great example of archetype, not stereotype and how that never leaves an audience cold.

Star rating: ★★★