Would you mind if I asked you a troubling question?

An Oscar-winning American actor, an English director and a Northern Irish playwright are about to begin rehearsals for a new play - one that could transform each of their careers. But when it turns out that they're not on the same page, the night threatens to spiral out of control.

Power dynamics, cultural identity and the perils of being a woman in the entertainment industry; nothing is off limits in this pitch-black comedy from the award-winning playwright David Ireland.

This edition is published to coincide with the revival at Riverside Studios, London, in December 2023.

David Ireland is from Belfast and trained as an actor at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. His first play, What the Animals Say, was produced at Oran Mor, Glasgow in 2009. His other plays include Everything Between Us (Tinderbox, Belfast) which won the Stewart Parker Award and the Meyer-Whitworth Award, The End of Hope (Oran Mor), Half a Glass of Water (Field Day), Yes So I Said Yes (Ransom Productions, Belfast), Can't Forget About You (Lyric, Belfast) and I Promise You Sex and Violence (Northern Stage, Newcastle). In 2015, he adapted Lorca's Blood Wedding for Dundee Rep and Graeae. His 2016 play Cyprus Avenye (Royal Court London/Abbey Theatre Dublin/Public Theatre NYC) won the Irish Times Award for Best New Play and the James Tait Black Award for Drama and in 2018 Ulster American (Traverse, Edinburgh) won a Scotsman Fringe First, the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh award and the Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland Award for Best New Play. He lives in Glasgow with his wife Jennifer and his children Ada and Elijah.