Several critics have objected to a scene in David Ireland’s Ulster American, now running at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, in which two male characters talk about which well-known females they would rape. “The rape conversation is not just thrown in to give the audience a good laugh, it is there for a reason. Actually, many reasons,” writes Gardner. “It may be extremely discomforting to watch, (there were several moments when I realised that my jaw was hanging open) but I don’t doubt that everyone involved interrogated every single one of the decisions they were making. Very carefully.”