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Stephen Jones’ new play, Northern Lights, premiered at Theatre Upstairs from 30th November to 15th December. This comedy drama follows Lloyd (Stephen Jones) and Áine (Seána Kerslake), who form an unsteady but powerful bond one rainy night when he offers her – a stranger – a cup of tea and, quite literally, shelter from the storm.

Jones, who stars in the play he has penned, is among the most well-known of Irish playwrights and theatre actors, his notable theatre credits including A Certain Romance, Ulysses and DruidMurphy: Plays by Tom Murphy, as well as the leading role of Keano in I Keano. Kerslake, perhaps best known for playing the lead role in RTE’s television series Can’t Cope, Won’t Cope and Dollhouse, is a young Irish actress who continues to deliver on the promise she has shown since the beginning of her career.

Lloyd’s surname is McGregor and a poster of Conor “The Notorious” McGregor dominates the lounge-cum-kitchen. Indeed, the bashful, self-conscious and shame-filled pride Lloyd takes in his namesake is perhaps a token of the play’s success as a whole. Jones presents characters who are convincing not only despite but because of their self-contradiction and confusion. Áine is similarly conflicted and the play refuses to present any statement that is unqualified or simplistic.

Lisa Krugel’s set design is extremely convincing – she manages to portray an apartment that seems authentically lived-in but is nevertheless homely: tidy but cluttered, tiny but probably worth a fortune; neither does the production feel confined by the limited stage space in Theatre Upstairs. The play is static, just as the lives of its characters have reached a point of stasis and, indeed, the element of threat in a young woman staying in the house of a slightly older man – which is acknowledged from the beginning by both characters – is heightened by the claustrophobic set dimensions and the tidied clutter. This is a set fully up-to-date with the exceptional Dublin everyman. Eoghan Carrick’s lighting design is subtly effective, helping the capable actors set and vary the tone throughout.

Jones clearly has an acute sense not only of a compelling humanity that translates extremely well to the stage but is able to realise some universal themes of loss, kinship and kindness in a convincingly organic modern Dublin. Expect laughter, tears and a genuinely interesting look at human relationships.