In Mart Crowley’s play For Reasons That Remain Unclear – just given its European premiere in London – Conrad, an American Catholic priest on sabbatical in Rome, is happy to hear on a piazza his home accent, spoken by Patrick, a screenwriter on a Roman research trip.

After a long lunch, though boozy only on one side, as the younger man is a recovering alcoholic, they have just come back for coffee to the writer’s plush hotel suite. Conrad chats about his career as a teacher in Catholic schools – before a “transfer”, which he found regrettable, to a hospital chaplaincy – while Patrick recalls an unhappy childhood and education.