While playwright Bill Naughton is best remembered for his portrait of a cocksure Cockney in Alfie, most of his plays offer an affectionate depiction of working-class life in the north of England where he was brought up and worked — as a weaver, coal-bagger and lorry-driver — before turning his hand to writing.

Bolton, his home town, is the setting for his 1967 success Spring and Port Wine. The play, both comic and sad, presents valuable social history in its record of a period in which the certainties and traditions of the past were swept away by a tide of youthful rebellion.

The upheaval is represented in the revolt of teenager Hilda Crompton (Helen Armes) against the domestic despotism practised by her father Rafe (Jeffrey Holland). Returning from a works ‘do’, having imbibed rather unwisely on port, she doesn’t fancy the herring mum has cooked for tea. Dad’s decision is that it will be served to her at every meal until she eats it. Her rebellion proves to be contagious, and before long the walk-out from the house looks set to include all three of her siblings.

In the case of her teacher sister Florence (Kate Middleton), who is all too willing to submit to her father’s rule, departure follows her agreement, after much humming and hawing, to accept the proposal of her long-standing boyfriend Arthur (Jonathan Niton).

Her droll brother Harold (Neil Andrew) and Jack-the-lad youngster Wilfred (Andy Daniel) are both on the point of leaving when it occurs to them they have nowhere to go. One suspects, too, that they might also come to miss all the lovely grub prepared by their long-suffering mother Daisy (Judy Buxton).

Balancing the books is a main preoccupation with this very good-natured woman. This is a task made more difficult as a consequence of loans advanced to feckless neighbour Betsy Jane (Anita Graham) who is constantly juggling debts in a way both complicated and hilarious.

For all the sombreness of the principal theme, this is indeed a very funny play, with much of its comedy arising from the utter believability of the action. A sprightly pace is maintained under the practised hand of director Sally Hughes. A particularly felicitous touch comes in the scene changes, which are capably performed by members of the cast with an almost balletic precision.

Those of us who were around in the sixties — and remember it — cannot fail to be impressed by the way the period is recreated. This is especially the case with Tony Eden’s marvellous design, which presents a house so familiar from my childhood, complete with brass plate on the wall and antimacassars on the armchairs.

Until October 9. Box office: 0118 969 8000.