NEARLY a sell-out before the curtain rose and given that the Customs House has been stripped of its new writing funding, this could be the venue’s swansong.

However, Bafta-winning Emmerdale writer Karin Young’s work is a good marker to go out on.

Starring three well-known British soap actors – Charlie Hardwick (Emmerdale), Barbara Marten (Casualty, Coronation Street and Brookside) and Libby Davison (The Bill and Hollyoaks) – as well as Lisa McGrillis (Pitman Painters), this is a piece that unashamedly contrasts the attitudes of the “old guard”, for whom society meant something, compared with the post-Eighties Thatcher generation, for whom materialism means everything.

Lorna (Marten) was an activist during the Miners’ Strike and continued her altruism with community work.

The irony is that a new community centre named after her is going to be closed by councillors she had trusted and worked with for the past 30 years. Ultimately, as her heartfelt final speech implies, those people will be hoisted on their own petard.

In contrast to a girls’ night out, this is a girls’ night in.

Daughters Sandy (Hardwick), Pam (Davison) and granddaughter (McGrillis) descend on Lorna as she’s preparing her community centre speech.

The one-liners about middleaged women are excellent.

Pam and Sandy have hidden secrets, and it’s a joy to watch these four fine actresses.

Young’s script at times veers from brilliant farce (Sandy and Pam unfurl a banner protesting at a strip club, but end up in Greggs) to ultra seriousness, which jars a little.

However, taking up issues such as class, identity and the live-for-today shortsightedness of modern society is always welcome.

The Awkward Squad is at York Theatre Royal from April 10 to 13. Box office: 01904- 623568