Three hearty cheers for the SatMatCo or, to spell out its full monicker, the Saturday Matinee Company.

This is a newly launched Oxford-based outfit designed to bring us drama, direct and unadorned, in a short, sharp burst on Saturday lunchtimes at the Old Fire Station, leaving plenty of time for eating there afterwards.

The new production deals with television cookery programmes, sharing a title with that of the show it concerns. Connie’s Colander, the brainchild of Emily Salmon (Amy Enticknap), is designed to bring the recipes of the past to the kitchens of today.

Specifically, they are the recipes of Emily’s mother Connie, a retired domestic science teacher, who gets to do duty with her in the studio. “Here is one I made earlier,” she tells the camera of one of her classic confections appears, adding with a waggish gleam in her eye: “I have always wanted to say that!”

This, it may be guessed, was from the very first of Emily’s programmes. The play moves easily between periods of time, perhaps with a particular recipe – for Bakewell tart, say, or olive bread or lemon drizzle cake – helping to conjure the past.

Covered – among much else – are Emily’s childhood enthusiasms (for Boyzone and rock cakes), her boyfriends, the death of her father and - the major theme – the onset and consequences of her mother’s dementia. It is amazing how much meaty matter is contained in the 45-minute two-hander, written by Gaye Poole (who plays Connie).

Warm and witty, but with a marked piquancy, the play clearly benefits from the writer’s experience as a nurse working in a psychiatric hospital, before her career change to theatre. “Poor Em,” says Connie. “How is she going to cope when I forget her.”

This is a compelling play, excellently acted and tautly directed by Katie Read. There is a second performance on Saturday.