Sarah (Jodie McNee) works as a teacher at the local primary school. She buys the fish and chips for the family in the opening scene. She is single but wrapped up with phone messages from Simon, a dentist she has met on the internet and whom she has seen a few times. She is very excited about this new relationship and planning a holiday with him. Doreen keeps asking whether he has nice teeth.

The primary school is introducing environmental measures like banning plastic and driving to school. As Sarah says, “Virtually everything in a primary school is plastic. Cups, pens, toys, the laminator.”

Megyn runs upstairs and locks herself in her grandmother’s bedroom and refuses to come out. Doreen agrees to let her stay but Megyn only communicates by text asking for food and drink. Megyn is also texting outside the family sometimes about environmental concerns and texting with someone who works at Superdrug much to her mother’s annoyance.

The main source of humour in the first act is that Liverpudlian wit and the timing of interruptions from the mobile phones. Unfortunately we are expecting a great denouement which never arrives. This may be a spoiler but I feel it has to be said.

This is a shallow play compared to Michael Wynne’s earlier work and it is sad to see it on at the Royal Court, once known for exceptional and groundbreaking plays.