People-watching is evidently one of the biggest influences behind Neil Bebber’s work. In 2009, the Welsh playwright stormed the final of Sherman Cymru’s ScriptSlam with Seven People, a script that delved deeper into the internal monologues that lurk within the average café scene.

With an mature awareness that everyday thought can encompass everything from banal observations to murderous obsessions, Bebber’s characters are richly nuanced and introduced with the degree of playfulness generated by a man clearly motivated by curiously and speculation.

Following this success, there’s a real sense of anticipation in the build-up to Bebber’s latest play, Tortoise, which will excavate the complex mindsets behind family life. In a refined take on the Prodigal Son parable, Rob (Ryan Hacker) returns to his family for his brother’s funeral, mourning the loss of a man who’d played father figure for so long.

Lumbered not only with his grief, but with a new degree of responsibility to his abandoned family, Rob’s character explores how we navigate our obligations, balancing them against our own selfish priorities.

In the midst of all of this renegotiation, there is another death in the family; the neglected family tortoise is included as a dark metaphor, the significance of which can only become apparently as the events of the play unfold.

Following the success of Dumbwise’s stripped down production of Baby, the company return to perform in Cardiff with a rehearsed reading which promises to make up for a lack of special effects with a raw and emotionally-layered piece.

Admission: £1. Info: 029 2031 1050 / chapter.org