Charlotte Keatley’s play, written in 1985 when she was 25, is the most performed play by a woman writer. It’s an A level set text and schoolgirls love it. The action is spread over four generations and deals with the aspirations, disenchantments and sheer pressure on women, their hopes, fears and frustrations. A teenager gets pregnant and hands over her baby to her mother to bring up.
The four actors – Maureen Lipman, Katie Brayben, Hilary Tones and Serena Manteghi in Paul Robinson’s heartfelt production – have to behave at times like children, which is absolutely fine when one of them is being childlike on her own; but it can be a bit am-dram when all four of them are being childlike at the same time.