SO, your brain. Is it the nesting place for your inner self or a lump of emotionless meat? Mind Over Matter tackle Mick Gordon’s testing play On Ego which melds science with emotion: the result is a probing, gut-wrenchingly real piece of philosophical theatre.

Oliver Henn’s Alex sits on a foundation of TED talk-worthy self-assuredness, confidently straddling the worlds of academia and romance as he leaves a lecture to join his wife for an anniversary dinner. This journey is courtesy of a teleportation device designed to re-constitute one in the second location, vaporising their self in the first.

The premise may seem cold and clinical, but a technical failure mid-teleport brings questions of identity and mortality to the fore, especially as Alex’s wife Alice (Yoshika Colwell) receives world-shattering news. Colwell manifests Alice’s deteriorating state through minor ticks juxtaposed against incredibly articulate moments, making her determined fate all the more heart-breaking.

She shares a brilliant chemistry with Henn, but her reunion with Harry Whittaker’s Derek forms a lump in my throat. Whittaker carries Derek’s older years, which on a lesser actor would seem a burden, but here feels like a well-worn character for him.

On Ego flows flawlessly, helped by the audio-visual talents of Scott J Hurley’s score and Tom Leatherbarrow’s candid look at married life through home-video footage. Dealing with themes that are often overwhelming, Mind Over Matter temper harsh subject matter with subtlety. They have an incredible understanding for Gordon's play, and with luck many other theatres will see that soon.