York Theatre Royal, Pilot Theatre Company

The birth of a relationship. The death of a relationship. A double bill of new, deliciously dark and funny one act plays.

End of Desire, written by David Ireland and directed by Katie Posner: Having met online, two strangers arrange an unusual first encounter in East Belfast. Alan is an affluent poet and Janet loves Big Brother. Culturally opposite, they've nothing in common except their desire for love and fear of intimacy. So how will they get through the night?

Escaping Alice, written by Matthew Pegg and directed by Juliet Forster: Simon loves Alice. Perhaps a little too much. But is their relationship really all that it seems? Who's keeping secrets? Why has he joined a dating agency? How come they never go out anymore? And why can he never remember the colour of her eyes?

David Ireland is writer in residence at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast and is fast becoming one of the UK's most exciting emerging playwrights. Matthew Pegg is a writer based in the East Midlands. He has had work produced by regional theatres such as Leicester Haymarket and the Belgrade in Coventry and by touring companies such as Cornelius and Jones.