When a middle-aged married man called Iain turns up at Zara’s Edinburgh New Town des-res (a block overloaded with Airbnbs), she mistakes him for an intruder. Given that Zara’s take on temporary accommodation is to front her own flat as a co-operative brothel, the negotiations that follow take an interesting turn. Especially as Iain is her former teacher and has booked a session with a ‘boy’ who turns out to be just-turned-30 Jay.

Business is business in Kieran Hurley’s new play, a dark farce given a rollicking production for the Traverse by Roxana Silbert. With a cast led by a brilliant Conleth Hill as Iain, the unholy trio is completed by Dani Heron as a fierce Zara and Anders Hayward as Jay. As Zara takes charge, she reveals a working knowledge of the contradictions inherent in the system, and calls out Thomas The Tank Engine and other kids’ classics as exploitative tools of the state. Jay, meanwhile, has his own problems, as the indoor playground all three attempt to make their own becomes swamped with infinitely more grown-up stuff from afar.

The merry dance this trio embark upon across Anna Orton’s nouveau-tenement bedroom set reveals a series of not-quite midlife crises as all involved are forced to confront their everyday failures. As broken dreams collide, however, unlikely alliances are formed as each finds some kind of comfort with the other to form something resembling a family unit in this strangest of ménages.

Adults, Traverse Theatre, until 27 August, times vary.