In this biting boardroom battle-of-the-sexes comedy at Hampstead Downstairs, Andrew Payne writes of the two businessmen expecting to seal a critical deal and launch their careers into the stratosphere – until their collaborator sends his female deputy to The Meeting in lieu, that is.

Telling the story of Stratton and Cole, two men who are on the verge of inking a contract that promises to make or break their careers, Payne’s Hampstead debut subverts their expectations as, following an unexpected ‘incident’ and subsequent ejection of their business partner by security, they are forced instead to negotiate with his deputy.

Expecting an even easier ride to victory, they soon find her a much tougher and more astute opponent than they initially imagined.

Directed by the returning Denis Lawson, following his West End-transferred Little Malcolm And His Struggle Against The Eunuchs in 1998 starring Ewan McGregor, and penned by Payne, whose credits include Mugged at the National Theatre, perceptions undoubtedly promise to prove misleading.