They’ve rearranged most of the seating at the Theatre, Chipping Norton, for their in-house production of Charlotte Keatley’s play, My Mother Said I Never Should. Some seats have been moved to the stage and the rest are grouped all around a replacement stage erected in the middle of the auditorium.

Overhead, an atmospheric line of washing hangs out as My Mother Said tracks the fortunes of four generations of women from one family, all the way from the 1930s to the 1980s.

The in-the-round staging is ideal for close-up observation of Doris, Margaret, Jackie, and Rosie as their lives unfold. Every change of costume needs to be watched minutely, from shoes to spectacles, because Keatley jumps quick-fire backwards and forwards from one decade to another, by no means sticking to a chronological order.

“Knickers!” shouts Doris triumphantly from beneath the front parlour piano as, in a further twist of the chronological screw, all four women are first seen as children playing together.

“We’re going to have a seance,” announces Margaret. “We’re going to call up the spirit of Granny, who died three years ago last Wednesday.” “Tell us how to kill our mummy,” demands Jackie.

These little girls are certainly not sugar and spice, but come over as thoroughly realistic and normal.

Sue McCormick gets the peachiest role as grandmother Doris , plainly relishing every moment. From rolling around on the floor as a robust baby, Doris develops into a ruler-of-the-roost, northern wartime mother. You may be sure her house is always spotless.

But she shows her frustrations. She had to give up the teaching job she loved when she married Jack: “We never liked each other much,” she reflects wistfully in later life. In old age, her pain is real as she packs up and moves from the family home.

There are thoroughly convincing performances, too, from the other three cast members. Zara Ramm does a fine job as Doris’s tense daughter, Margaret, who never quite gets round to telling daughter Jackie (Jessica Guise) the facts of life.

“You promised to discuss it when we went round the garden centre,” Jackie snaps. Teenage pregnancy, and a cruel deception are the result.

Charlotte Croft makes the most of the smaller role of Jackie’s daughter Rosie: at first a stroppy brat, but moving on to form a warm, loving bond with Doris.

Director John Terry keeps the action at a vibrant pace and expertly brings out the principal message: each successive generation has its own particular priorities and wants to change the world.

My Mother Said I Never Should
The Theatre, Chipping Norton
Until March 11
Tickets: 01608 642350 chippingnortontheatre.com