Unicorn is a dramaturgical thought-experiment.

As the title indicates, Mike Bartlett’s new play — he of King Charles III and Cock fame (what a title combo) — imagines what could be, specifically: what happens when a boringly-content couple (Nicola Walker and Stephen Mangan) meet a third (Erin Doherty) who makes both of them feel like the best versions of themselves.

This shared paramour inspires these two intellectuals to contemplate the nature of what their existence has become, and to productively vocalize their resulting thoughts and feelings about themselves, each other, and the state of the world — all in the name of improving their relationship to their lives.

If you and yours found such a person, wouldn’t you want to keep her around? Unicorn — now at London’s Garrick Theatre, directed by James McDonald (too many famous credits to fit in a reasonably-sized parenthetical) — depicts how one trio attempts to navigate throupling in the modern age. If two hearts are better than one, should more of us consider if three hearts — and minds, and mouths, and bodies — are better than two?

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Conversational exchange is the crux of Unicorn, which seems to have informed the decision to insert extended breaks between every scene, allowing ample opportunities for the audience to discuss their impressions of what they’ve seen thus far, at repeat junctures throughout the play.