What comes to mind when you think of a psychobitch? The posters for Amanda Chong’s play suggests Sindhura Kalidas’ Anya Samuel as an unhinged, overachieving career woman: replete with blue blazer and bared teeth, ready to pounce. It’s surprising, then, that the character is not presented as cruel or conniving or shrill (or insert any number of misogynistic descriptors here). Yes, she’s a perfectionist, but it’s hard work excelling as a journalist while also trying to maintain the affections of an indifferent fiancé.

As a comedy, Psychobitch leaves something to be desired; it goes for loud, brash, over-the-top humour when a subtler approach would have sufficed. And yet Chong’s script is adept at unravelling the stereotypes often associated with the ‘difficult woman’ archetype. In the play’s first half, it’s easy to think that we are laughing at (rather than with) Anya’s desperate attempts to convince her tech-bro partner that she’s emotionally stable.

But as the piece progresses and the audience’s understanding of Anya and her relationships with those around her grows, it becomes clear that she is anything but a psychobitch. As Kalidas slowly deconstructs Anya’s bombastic facade to reveal the true vulnerability beneath, this timely interrogation of toxic relationships truly shines.

Psychobitch, Summerhall, until 26 August, 7.45pm; main picture: Ruey Loon.