Taking inspiration from Chekhov’s The Seagull, Spun Glass Theatre’s production took place in the post-apocalyptic inner world of two women romantically involved with the same man.

Set in the perfect venue of the Old Police Cells Museum beneath Brighton Town Hall, the audience was led down to what seemed like a nuclear war bunker and left to follow their instincts.

With Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament demo footage playing sporadically, muted lighting and fragments of rehearsal heard for a play-within-a-play, this confusion was affectingly unsettling.

Two extremely strong performances – from Marie Rabe as the faltering optimist Nina, and Eva Savage as rejected Masha – saw Chekhov’s characters transported to 1980s Britain, with the audience having a clear role too: as ghosts the two could confide in and remember. This device worked well, with audience members referred to as the absent Konstantin and Trigorin as a toy glockenspiel marked surreal funeral chimes.

As Nina attempted to perform the suicidal Konstantin’s play and Masha repeatedly folded her CND leaflets that wouldn’t be read, a creeping feeling of futility slowly became overwhelming with each light slowly going out.

Sobbing in the dark followed by an utterly heartbreaking rendition of Elvis Costello’s titular song made for a devastating, brilliant conclusion.