For Herbie, in a dowdy pub in Nenagh, it is love at first sight when he sees Maureen serving bar and sipping Madison. For Maureen, whose husband has skipped to Canada with a tourist he picked up, it is defensive bristling against another of the species - man.
Kevin McGee's brief vignette of the war of the sexes, first performed in 1996, gets a lively revival in Michael James Ford's sprightly lunchtime slot in Bewley's (sandwich, soup and coffee thrown in for the ticket price).
Herbie is all hope, Maureen all spit and scepticism, not to mention coarse language. And yet, as the battle rages, there are uncertainties on both sides: something might just work out for them from this tangle of taunts and pleadings in a deftly-written mixture of very funny one-liners and straight talk from two highly original characterisations, excellently drawn by the author.
Under Mark O'Halloran's apt and simple direction, Susannah de Wrixon and John Delaney deliver two richly-intertwined and highly comic performances in the small but perfectly-formed set and costume designs by Nicola Hughes and Sinead Cuthbert, well lit by Kelly Campbell.
It's hard to think of a more pleasurable or creative way of passing lunchtime, even tucked away from Wednesday's warm bright sunshine in Grafton Street. Go see and enjoy.
Continues until June 2nd. Booking at 086-8784001