Jez Butterworth’s Parlour Song is a comedy-drama about three people in suburban Hatfield – a place where all the houses seem to look the same.

In one of them lives Ned, a neurotic schlub whose job as a demolitions expert sees him touring the country, flattening obsolete industrial buildings. Ned is pals with Dale, but they seem to have little in common. It’s particularly awkward when he tries to confide in Dale about his faltering marriage – to the ironically named Joy. And on top of it all, Ned’s possessions keep going missing.

Tony Bright’s Dale acts as narrator, introducing us to his neighbours and slowly revealing how intertwined their lives are. The play juggles its mystery element with a creeping sense of unease, set in motion early on by a beautifully paced, stony faced dinner scene.

But there’s comedy to match the tragedy. Sophie Dearlove’s Joy is sexy and funny in a lemon-based seduction scene and, as Ned, Ben Pritchard is hilarious when listening to a CD of sex tips.

The dramatic conclusion feels a little rushed, but the performances (particularly Pritchard’s) are superb. The play intelligently explores England and the desperation, madness and – perhaps most troublingly of all – normality of the people who live there.

Four stars