YASMINA Reza is the flavour of the moment when it comes to stage comedy.

Her play, Art, has had so many casts and worldwide tours that it makes your head spin.

Life x3, at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, until tomorrow (Saturday) is her latest offering and it starts with a bang, or should that be a wail?

Framed by neon blue lights, the coolly contemporary living room is the setting for some distinctly heated debates on childcare, careers and life itself.

The unseen tormentor, Anton, may only be six years old, but he's good at it.

His wailing demands for food in bed after tooth cleaning are the recurring theme as a difficult evening wears on...and on...and on.

Belinda Lang and David Haig as Sonia and Henri are the couple whose nerves are fraying and upon whom descend dinner guests, a day early.

Serena Evans and David Yelland are the would-be diners and the catalysts for some incisive soul searching.

Compared with the demands of the tyrant Anton, Henri's tussles with his scientific paper on the flatness of galaxy haloes is mere child's play - but there will be tears before bedtime.

The first act is packed with mounting rage as counter-terrorism measures are implemented against the infant.

Parenting style becomes an allegory for all that is wrong and right with the two couples' relationships with each other and life in general.

This is achieved with bursts of sharp wit with the four-letter word count mounting as frustration levels spiral.

Treated to a dinner of chocolate finger biscuits and Wotsits, Ines and Hubert enter the fray.

Hubert has make-or-break power over Henri's career and his patronising, pontificating and devious behaviour sets everyone's teeth on edge.

A large intake of Sancerre plays a lubricating role in demolishing the defences and sharpening the attacks as the power shifts between all four characters.

"I can no longer navigate the known universe," slurs Ines, the "Hausfrau" with hidden depths.

The ensuing scenes play out the same scenario revealing diffent aspects of the characters and with sections of the script repeated - but with vastly different consequences.

"Something's gone wrong with this evening," someone cries and hilariously so. That said, the final scene lacks the pithy punch of all that has gone before.

The cast, however, is faultless turning each character around 360 degrees to revealing effect.

Belinda Lang is never more effective than when engaged in a cold, furious battle over Anton's demands.

Serena Evans lets rip with Ines' hidden contempt for her husband to devastatingly comic effect and David Yelland is the laughable epitome of smugness and malevolence.

David Haig as the beleagured "doomed" Henri staggers from euphoria to melancholy as he struggles to cope with a wife only marginally less fractious than his child.

The play, like life, has many good elements, but the end is a letdown.

Sandy Baker