Every modern mum's heroine

So here I am, at the National Theatre with my life on stage: underachieving husband, illogical mother, a demanding job and three demanding children (aged 14, seven and 21 months). My husband's needs are so low down the pecking order, any attention he gets is mostly an afterthought.

It's all there in Lucinda Coxon's new play: aspiring, middle-class friends who care about the difference between "beige" and "taupe" and assume that we do, too; annoying friends who believe the local sink school is good enough for your child but not for their "gifted" offspring. How satisfying it is to learn that someone understands the modern mother's lot.

The best action takes place in the kitchen of working mum Kitty (Olivia Williams). My favourite scene is when she opens the fridge and, instead of preparing her darling children a healthy meal, grabs two shrink-wrapped packets of sandwiches (one prawn, one tuna, I think) to throw them. I've done that.

And she never eats with her children. I can relate to that. (Who in their right mind would want to when all they do is throw their forks on the floor and their food right at you?)

The aspect I remained unmoved by was the middle-class angst. There is not much wrong with Kitty's life, is there? She has it all. Hard-working husband, apparently healthy children (although they never appear on stage), lovely home, great career, tempting offers of no-strings sex from passing strangers.

But that is surely the point. What's being presented to us is a feeling of "is this it?" We were the generation born to have better lives than our own mothers. We had careers to look forward to, which we assumed we could combine effortlessly with domestic life. Where did it all go wrong, Kitty, seems to ask when she cries out: "Is this my life ... this f**king chaos of miscommunication and petty resentment?"

Coxon's response seems to be that we can't change our lives, only our expectations. Relationships fail, jobs are tricky, children are hard work and life is not perfect. Perhaps, as Kitty eventually does, this is what my generation needs to accept.

In rep until 10 May. Information: 020 7452 3000, www.nationaltheatre.org.uk

Happy Now?
National Theatre: Cottesloe
South Bank, SE1 9PX