Award-winning writer Katie Sayer’s scintillating comedy shines and sparkles with wit and insight, captivating and delighting the audience for every moment of its 50 minutes.

Agnes Pethers’ direction reflects the verbal verve and pace of the script. While there’s not much to see by way of a set, there’s much to listen out for, and in the pyrotechnics to follow, look away and you miss it.

18 years after a marriage has ended is a long time to be apart, but when your daughter goes into labour – that’s when parenting really counts, no matter what has transpired in the interim. Both waiting anxiously for news, separated by a plastic chair, his n’ hers copies of the current Financial Times, and a world of recriminations and regret, the unadorned setting of an NHS hospital waiting room leaves the awkward ex-couple nowhere to hide.

Manfully distracting himself with a porn mag, behind the day’s headlines, potential grandfather Chris (bemused Tom Fisher) has prepared himself admirably with facts (birthing pools, sieves and the like), but not for the bouleversant encounter with his ex-wife Anya (sardonic Dorothy McDowell) who arrives with prior knowledge of the sex of their daughter Kia’s baby, the intended name - Gary - and the unassailable assumption that the name of the baby’s father is a fiction.

All this taunting and one-up-man-ship whips Chris into a flat spin: so much so, he lets slip his regret at a short lived liason with Kelly – Anya’s love rival crisply dismissed as fake tan and ‘an embarrassing social media presence.’ Ouch. Chris feels the pain – but so too does Anya.

Chris’ mother’s regards elicit a tender response from Anya in appreciation of her mother-in-law’s well-chosen scarfs at Christmas, or the time they spent as a family in Italy, before infidelity broke up the marriage.

Anya’s success as a lawyer in the City trumps Chris’ less glittering career: poor prospects blamed on his History of Art degree. But as the two thrust and parry in a series of witty exchanges they begin to reclaim common ground, and with it, shared memories reform into an authentic channel of communication.

AD: For people who have never encountered your work before, how would you sum up what you do?
KS: If I had to sum up my work, I would call it contemporary comedy with a feminist twist. My first play in Oxford, The C Bomb, was a farce, about a girl with chlamydia who throws a party to tell all her ex-lovers. We thought it would mostly appeal to younger people, but actually about half the audience were the over 50s! Just goes to show – everyone can have a giggle about a swab test, regardless of age.I was really lucky, in that the play won a competition, and got taken to the Edinburgh Fringe, where it was picked up to be transferred to London for an off West-End run. Waiting For Gary is a bit more back-to-basics - it’s a two-hander comedy, set in one room, and taking place in real time. The basic premise is that the two characters – Chris and Anya – are divorcees, who haven’t seen each other for about 18 years. They’ve been reunited as their daughter is about to give birth, and the play gives us the conversation that they have in the hospital waiting room.

AD: When did you know you wanted to write? Which writers would you say have influenced you?
KS: I’ve always wanted to write comedy, but my particular heroes at the moment are Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who wrote Fleabag, and Vicky Jones, who is her dramaturge. I recently saw Original Death Rabbit by Rose Heiney (who I believe is from Oxford!) which was also amazing. In terms of style, I would say my influences are Richard Bean and Armando Iannucci.

AD: Do you find it difficult to balance the humour in your shows with emotional depth, or does it come naturally to you?
KS: I think that comedy has a real potential to pack an emotional punch, in a way that can be more hard-hitting than a straight-laced drama. Personally, I found the end of Blackadder Goes Forth – when George, Baldrick and Blackadder all go 'over the top' of the trenches – a lot more affecting than many documentaries, and I think then when you’ve seen your characters laugh, seeing them in devastating situations can feel a lot more real and a lot more raw. I also think humour, particularly satire, can be weaponized very effectively. I recently saw Blood Brothers when it toured to the New Theatre, which featured a comic parody of a private school, and then an under-funded state comp – the fact that the difference between the two schools was presented to us humorously made it a lot harder to swallow.

AD: Your last play, The C-Bomb, centred younger people and recognizable figures from student culture, but your two characters in Waiting For Gary are middle-aged, affected by issues the issues of a different generation. Do you think this new production has a more universal appeal, and would you say you have stepped out of your comfort zone?
KS:Waiting for Gary is a lot more nostalgic than The C Bomb was – the two older characters met at University, and are looking back at what went wrong in their relationship through the lens of everything that has happened to them since. Although I would say that the humour of both plays is very similar, I think perhaps Waiting for Gary is a bit more relatable, as everyone has experienced the bittersweet feeling of looking back at a time when you were happier in light of everything that has happened since.

AD: What are some of the challenges of working with a small cast?
KS: I’ve really enjoyed the challenge of writing a 2-person comedy, which is very different to writing farce, as you can’t shy away from moments of tensions with a quick punchline. Our two lead actors – Tom and Dorothy – are absolutely amazing, so I think the main challenge is just that they both have so many lines to learn!

AD: Do you find that Oxford is a supportive place to produce comedy?
KS: I think Oxford has a fantastic comedy scene. The Burton Taylor Studio is a fantastic resource for student new writing, but things like Jericho Comedy, and the number of open mic nights, also make Oxford a fantastic place to be. I’m also involved in the Oxford Revue, and I think it’s great that Oxford has such a range of opportunities, for writers, sketch performers, and for stand-ups to flourish.

What are your future plans for this show, and any other work in the pipeline?
KS:In terms of my future plans, I'll be at the Edinburgh Fringe with the Oxford Revue this summer, and I'm currently writing another play, a comedy about reality television, which we hope to tour in 2020. Other than that, I'm mostly busy with the London transfer of The C Bomb (and of course, rehearsals for Gary!).