Prudence, answering an ad for a male companion, meets Bruce in a restaurant. They don't hit it off, and depart in low dudgeon. She visits her therapist, who has already had sex with her and goes manic when she criticises his performance as being, well, premature.
Other women tell him the same, in an obvious feminist conspiracy.
Bruce's therapist is a much-married woman whose husbands have always had the surname Wallace - she has no idea why this is - and who deploys a stuffed Snoopy dog as an aid to practising her profession.
She barks at her patients, forgets who they are and suffers from low sugar level. Bruce tries another ad, and once again draws Prudence from the pack. They do rather better this time, but there is the complication of his lover, an effeminate gay named Bob, who feels threatened.
Finally, they all meet in a restaurant where another patient of Mrs Wallace is a waiter. One way or another, matters are resolved.
Christopher Durang's Beyond Therapy, directed by Patrick Nolan, is a very funny play, served here by wonderfully comic acting. The craziest characters are the two therapists, and Peter Vollebrecht and Danna Davis are quite hilarious in the roles. Keith Willis, Katherine Murphy, Alan Kinsella and Darren Donohue are all delightfully kooky.
The first half goes off like a firecracker, and if the second struggles a little to maintain the pace, the whole still makes for a most entertaining evening.
Laughter remains the best therapy, a prescription filled here in abundance.
Runs until September 25th. To book, phone 01-6795720
