Generations face off as desperate dad tries to make amends with his daughter

The older generation has despaired about the younger generation since we lived in caves – and the feeling’s mutual. It’s the snideness of intergenerational antagonism that British playwright Mike Bartlett zeroes in on in his 2018 play Snowflake. It’s not enough to revile each other: we seem to need to hurt each other, too.

When we meet 48-year-old Andy, James Lugton plays him with the haunted look of a hunted animal. His wife died six years before; his daughter, Maya, disappeared without explanation three years later, announcing her departure by text. He sent 47 unanswered ones back.

Andy, who lives in Oxford, hears that Maya’s been spotted in a café there, so leaves a new message suggesting they meet in a church hall. Neutral ground. It’s Christmas Eve, and he is even wearing his woolly jumper with the reindeer it because he figures no one can be cross with him in that – which shows his slender grasp of the situation.