Off the Endz *** TNT

Making a better life and getting off the estate proves no easy matter for pregnant nurse, Sharon (Lorraine Burroughs) and her equally hardworking partner Kojo in award-winning playwright Bola Agbaje’s sparky 70 minute new play.

Their indulgent, aspirational lifestyle has already spiralled out of control in credit card debts, and when Ashley Walters’ cocky David (her ex and Kojo’s best mate) turns up fresh out of jail, his layabout chauvinism and get-rich-quick drug-dealing schemes inevitably lead to trouble.

Agbaje has an astute ear for snappy dialogue, accurately pinpointing the divergent paths the friends have chosen. But the plotting proves predictable and (like the couple’s tolerance) increasingly unconvincing.

Ultimately one’s left with the feeling that, though writing from the heart as well as the head, she also had a deadline to meet.

Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS (020 7565 5000) until 13th March (£10-£25) Special deals for under 25’s