Oxford Fringe presents us with another opportunity to see this talented local company at the Old Fire Station on three consecutive Saturdays. The Sat.Mat Co (SMC) that gave us Collider last year are back again with this short dramatic jewel. It pulls no punches - exploring mother-daughter relationships that are affected by Alzheimers.

The no-frills presentation calls for astute writing, sensitive acting and disciplined direction. SMC have all of those in abundance. The acting is a tour de force by Amy Enticknap, as daughter, and Gaye Poole (also the writer) as her mother. The precise, detailed direction is safely in the hands of Katie Read, who gets every nuance out of her actors throughout a thought-provoking and tense hour of drama.

The actors slip seamlessly from one chapter of their lives to another; from the sublimely happy to their deepest unhappiness. It should be nearly impossible in an hour-long live performance, but this team makes it look natural. The atmosphere of the play is minute-to-minute expectancy. We find ourselves involved with the lives from several separate perspectives; which family has not been touched by this terrible affliction? Yet, despite the subject material, the play is alive with good humour (and even a few belly laughs!)

This is fine drama from a fine team, though the SMC have a risky ticket strategy in these financially difficult times - charging nothing for the tickets! Instead they ask for donations. Most of the donor envelopes I saw appeared to contain paper. I hope so because this group is well worth seeing and they deserve to be kept going for a lot longer yet! Oxford folk will soon love to spend their lunch hours in a theatre if they get the response they merit.