At a time when many major theatre companies are often bound by theatrical conservatism, however well staged, talented young performers, Harriet Gillies and Pierce Wilcox have the courage, the imagination, the intelligence and the exuberance to take risks, challenge the status quo and dare to embrace experimentation.

The recently refurbished Ralph Wilson Theatre at Gorman Arts Centre has been opened to all performers to experiment with new forms and try out original ideas. They've Already Won is the ideal show to stage at the Ralph Wilson Theatre. Gillies and Wilcox have conceived of a performance that is thought-provoking, utterly madcap and hilariously quirky. The rational and the irrational, the optimistic and the pessimistic lock forces within the prophetic premise of the performance – that the world is doomed. Large corporations bleed the resources of poor defenceless countries. Selfish, obsessive evil permeates society. Hope is dead and humanity's fear is the very fear that will destroy humanity. Gillies and Wilcox bathe the stage in a veil of utter pessimism, supported by the grim prognosis of Buzzfeed and highlighted by Johnny Cash's Hurt or N.E.R.D's Sooner or later.

Comedy underpins irony and scepticism. The prologue opens with images of Renaissance depictions of Cupids and the infant Jesus as Gillies scrolls through a sequence of captioned images from iconic works of art. Innocence is lampooned with satirical irreverence. The ensuing five parts depict the struggle to come to terms with their despondent pessimism through anecdotes, argument and resort to the internet. Escape into alcohol-fuelled meditation or frenetic, possessed movement become merely an avoidance and the original premise sets us all upon an irretrievable course towards the apocalypse. Finally the audience is left to contemplate the hopelessness of their predicament with Mars Bars in their hands and a YouTube clip of a crazy man exploding with office stress, trapped in an existential nightmare.

They've Already Won is theatre of ideas. Attempted interaction draws a tentative response from an audience unsure of its role. The actors would do well to warm the audience up with provocative argument before the show if they are hoping for more fiery interjection. The drama of the piece also takes a while to build. It is not until the re-enactment of an expletive-exploding scene from Brendan Cowell's Ruben Guthrie that Gillies and Wilcox inject a theatrical dynamic into the show. The lengthy discourse at the beginning of the show, though clearly expressing the show's theme, could have segued more swiftly into the drama of the work.

All experimentation skirts the fine line between intellectual intent and theatrical engagement. They've Already Won avoids the pitfall of didactic pronouncement with refreshing energy, conviction and appeal. Such bold experimentation offers food for thought, enjoyable to digest and satisfying to savour.