ROXY Dunn and Alys Metcalf compete with their egos to tell a comic, time-hopping story in In Tents And Purposes in the York Theatre Royal Studio tomorrow night.

Ten years, two friends and one fortune teller add up to the maths in Viscera Theatre Company's hour-long exploration of whether our lives are predetermined or shaped by our choices.

In Tents And Purposes – to all intents and purposes, Alys's punning suggestion for a title – is the work of two young female comedy actor/writers; Dunn being a series regular in Danny Boyle's Babylon on Channel 4 while Alys was in the West End hit The Play that Goes Wrong.

Written by Roxy, directed by Chris Head and performed and devised by Roxy and Alys, the show is now touring after performances at the Lyric, Hammersmith's Evolution festival and VAULT Festival and longer runs at the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe and Soho Theatre, London.

"The joy of doing this show is that we've refined and tweaked it every time we've done it, so it's a distilled version that we're now touring to ten venues over three months," says Roxy. "We got in touch with York Theatre Royal as we were looking for theatres around the country as part of our remit to extend our work outside of London, and we're thrilled that York will be one of them."

In Tents And Purposes is a show with "a layer and another layer within". "There's the story of the fictional characters, Sam and Libby, and there's the other story of Roxy and Alys and we try to tie those threads together," says Roxy. "I think they come together nicely at the end because it's sort of about our relationship, trying to out-showcase each other.

"We've known each other for ten years now; we were both at Guildford [School of Acting], where we were cast together a lot, and when we left we decided to start this company, with playwright Nick Payne supporting us as our non-financial patron."

Roxy and Alys play all the characters in their show with tongue firmly in cheek. "Sam and Libby meet at a funeral where they stumble across a fortune teller; one is given a great life story to come; the other is given a disastrous one, with everything happening by the age of 30," says Roxy. "They then think, 'what if they could turn back time and be given the other fortune?', so it's like a Sliding Doors scenario."

Roxy plays Libby, who receives the bad fortune first, and her "default nature" is pessimistic, believing you can't change fate, whereas Alys's Sam is positive, optimistic and ultimately doesn't believe in fate.

Where does Roxy stand on negativity versus positivity? "I believe you're given a lot of circumstances that are out of your control, but then you have to decide what you do with those circumstances," she says. "Though I should point out the show is a comedy!"

Viscera Theatre Company in In Tents And Purposes, York Theatre Royal Studio, tomorrow (April 26), 7.45pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk