Two elements initially piqued my interest in watching Exterminating Angel: the first, its premise – set as it is in a dinner party that never ends; the second, its style – improvised content framed by an established structure, aiming to provide each new audience with a fresh experience. The levels of risk-taking, confidence and ensemble work required to really achieve this are staggering, and Future Ruins do not disappoint. It is no surprise to learn that, under the leadership of director/deviser Jack McNamara, the company have evolved their unique style over an intensive three year research and workshop process. The dialogue flows, with frequent interruptions and actors talking over one another in a simple naturalistic manner which nonetheless takes a great deal of skill to deliver. We could easily believe that we are voyeurs peeking through the curtains at our neighbours dining, and the initially mundane and frivolous conversation tempered by a middle-class sense of restraint is extremely well-observed and often hilarious.

Luis Buñuel’s acclaimed film The Exterminating Angel is this production’s stimulus, a darkly absurd work focusing on a band of upper class friends who are, for unknown reasons, unable to leave a dinner party. This structure translates extremely well to the stage, particularly in The Pleasance Two’s fairly intimate semi-round space. A palpable sense of tension creeps in around the edges of a seemingly pleasant evening, and our first hint that all is not as it should be is illustrated by the visitor’s strange reluctance to go home.

In playwriting, we often ask ‘what is it that is keeping the character(s) in the room?’ as a way of making the action more intense, and it is something never named but clearly so monstrous that we are fully intrigued. The stakes are raised with almost textbook precision; an initial reluctance to move evolves into a puzzling inability to execute even simple tasks (such as answering a ringing phone). Finally, we are presented with searing violence and cruelty that seamlessly indicates how quickly the veneer of civilised behaviour can wear thin, achieving a breathtaking conclusion that begs for a second viewing.