Harry Butler’s Changing The Sheets is the study of a slow-burn relationship behind closed doors. It follows Robert (Butler) and Patti (Máiréad Tyers) through a series of casual hook-ups as each character reveals more and more of themselves in the bedroom. Open and naive Robert works well against jaded Patti who takes the reins of the relationship, and you can’t help rooting for both characters despite their differences.

^{Pictures: Daragh Cogley (above) Richard Young (top)}

There’s something Brechtian about the delivery, as the pair spend most of the play staring out at their audience, barely ever glancing at each other. This is intimate but not graphic in content and it’s quite a feat to achieve realistic sex scenes through dialogue alone, while both characters stand at opposite ends of the stage fully clothed. The achingly long gaps between dialogue often say more than the words themselves. Irishisms like ‘deadly’ and ‘class’ in the context of sexual bragging do well to break the tension and add a bit of genuine humour. 

Changing The Sheets is an honest and purposefully cringeworthy portrayal of two young adults negotiating their way through modern, vulnerable relationships. But it lacks an overall arc and the ending, while perfectly realistic, feels a little unfinished. 

Assembly Rooms, until 28 August, 9.15pm.