As part of the Gate’s season of ‘compelling, complex female protagonists’ (Who Does She Think She Is?), Chimera is a transfer from New York’s Public Theater. Written by Deborah Stein and performed by Suli Holum, the show centres on Jennifer Samuels, a fiercely atheist microbiologist who discovers that she shares her DNA with an unborn sister, thus rendering her sense of self highly problematic. As a scientist, she cannot cope with the idea and abandons her son and husband – indeed, her son is not really her son, more like her nephew.

Framed in a narration by a third party, this story is told from several perspectives – perhaps one too many. Holum is marvellous, switching from the easy-going coffee lady who connects with the audience (a lot) to son Brian, now a young man of 19, to Jennifer Samuels herself; as an actor’s performance this is absolutely worth seeing. Chimera being both the biological term for the genetics phenomenon and of course the ancient Greek hybrid creature, it might somehow apply to this show itself in the kind of meta-style Stein and Holum are clearly aiming for: references to the fact that ‘this is a theatre’ are abundant and the lengthy discussion of the nature of the onstage kitchen (no taps) is a tad tiresome.

That kitchen (set design by Jeremy Wilhelm) is at the same time a true star of the show, ingeniously designed to facilitate all sorts of surprise moments. The visuals by David Tennant and Kate Freer are stunning and work cleverly together with the set. They illustrate, as in a lecture, the science of the matter and later burst into projections of stars and the universe (in a weak and unexplained link between the human body and the sky).

And that is not the only problem. Jennifer Samuels, too, gets little attention as a main character and feels flat amidst all the other things that are going on. The consideration of the ethics behind leaving the family are only touched upon lightly. Brian is more three-dimensional as the wise but troubled student recalling his mother. The show is filled to the brim with suggestions and proposals, but in the end does not wholly convince on any of them. The use of voice-over as a fourth character, lastly, and the many framing jokes do not work as well as envisaged. It would have been a better show after some painful trimming.

A fascinating show but a tiny bit faulty, Chimera contains many an idea but develops too few to be truly satisfying.

Chimera is playing at the Gate Theatre until 20 December. For tickets and more information, see the Gate Theatre website. Photo by Helen Murray.