"I haven’t got a clue how this plays out." Thank goodness Adam (Ben Pope) only admits this towards the end of Welcome Break: the rest of us wouldn’t have been much help until then. This two-hander, mixing comedy, myth, dance, and socks with sandals, relies so much on playing guessing games with the audience that it would be remiss of me to reveal how it all ‘plays out’: suffice it to say that the majority of the play ticks along as an exquisitely-tuned double act, with Pope playing the underwhelmed, grumpy straight man as really only he can, and Alex MacKeith the socially awkward, bizarre misfit.

It’s barely an exaggeration to say that Welcome Break is more a showcase for MacKeith than anything else. His writing is extraordinary, with a knack for subverting words and phrases to add individuality to every sentence and every phrase: the cliché "it’s like riding a bicycle" ends like you’ve never heard before. It doesn’t take a genius to know that ‘attempt’ and ‘try’ are synonyms; it takes a great comic mind to make the link to the extent of asking to "attempt a sip of your coffee". And through a carefully chosen soundtrack, a curse becomes a vehicle for some wonderfully humorous moments.

Ideas of philosophy and fast food are bantered about with equal irreverence. The repartee has easily enough depth – and even some ad-libbing – to leave you only a little surprised to learn that these supposed ‘strangers’ have a history. It was mentioned afterwards that the actors had at one point been intending to swap parts each night: it’s perhaps good for their collective sanities that they didn’t, but it’s obvious that they have an affinity with the play as a whole that extends far beyond their characters’ lines.

Certain facets are undeniably problematic. MacKeith’s thrusting dance at the opening is never really explained; the other dance breaks, while an absolute joy to watch, are more than a little gratuitous. And although – or even because – there is such a masterful build-up to the denouement, it feels a little deflating when it only confuses matters further. In the later moments of the play, transitions between comedy and tragedy become increasingly abrupt; this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it seems a shame. MacKeith does comedy about the mundane unbelievably well, from finding gherkins in hamburgers to the perils of cooking in a showroom, and I would have preferred the script to stick to this realm. The many layers at play in Welcome Break are very impressive, but the conclusion felt somewhat jarring, almost like an easy way out. Too clever by half? Of course – but take out that half, and who knows what pearls you’d miss.

Welcome Break runs at the ADC until Saturday, January 25