British playwright Richard Bean brings razor-sharp wit and an amusing sense of the absurd to this high-spirited romp through the fractious terrain of climate change science.
As in his sensational adaptation of the commedia classic The Servant of Two Masters, the skilfully structured plot has scintillating dialogue neatly combined with poignant personal drama and riotous farce.
The impact of the satire is somewhat blunted by a crude dualism in which climate change activists are dishonest, self-serving and incompetent while the sceptical heretic never wavers in her devotion to the exalted realm of pure science.
The strategy will probably reinforce whatever point-of-view audience members bring to the play and the lengthy expositions on interpreting scientific evidence seem pointless when the conclusions are so clearly pre-determined by the stark polarity between the saintly sceptic and her evil tormentors.
There is a lot more subtlety in the play's hilarious dissection of middle-class domestic dysfunction which plunges us into an explosive battle between a well-intentioned working mother and her anorexic, home-schooled daughter.
Jennifer Ward-Lealand establishes a commanding presence as the embattled climate change sceptic and wins considerable sympathy as she expresses the anguish of an exasperated mother.
Jess Holly Bates strikes a fine balance between belligerence and vulnerability in her sensitive portrayal of the rebellious daughter who finds redemption in a sweet romance with a wildly enthusiastic earth science student who is convincingly brought to life in Ben Shotter's energetic performance.
Stelios Yiakmis nails the drippy charm of a liberal academic while Lauren Gibson embodies the icy authoritarianism of a Human Resources officer.
Andrew Grainger is fun to watch as a hard case ex-marine and John Verryt's superb set makes a nod to Mondrian as it stylishly evokes the precision of scientific abstraction.