Here's an uncomfortable reminder for those of us who were there at the time and remember it as clear as yesterday - a play set in the early 1970s is now considered to be a period drama!

At least, that's the expression used by director Michael Cabot... Presumably a young whippersnapper who wasn't even born then - to describe the new production of Alan Ayckbourn's Absent Friends which arrived at the Theatre Royal in Windsor this week.

It has to be admitted that however old they are, Michael and the crew from London Classic Theatre, who are responsible for this hugely-entertaining version, have recreated the look and feel of 1974 with uncanny accuracy.

Apparently the backroom crew referred to old copies of Good Housekeeping and Woman's Own for reference, setting the action in the living room of a typically smart executive-style house of the time, complete with the stone cladding, smoked glass and tubular steel trappings. You can almost imagine the gleaming Ford Capri sitting outside on the driveway.

The cast are adorned as you would expect, in a variety of 1970s fashions, from kipper ties to flapping flares.

But this being an archetypal Ayckbourn adventure, means that despite all the humour and nostalgia, this is a somewhat unsettling evening, often as uncomfortable as wearing a pair of those ridiculous platform shoes. For it reveals many of the unsettling social attitudes prevalent 40 or so years ago and the embarrassing, cringeworthy predicaments into which the perpetrators tumble.

Absent Friends is one Ayckbourn's 1970s masterpieces, up there with The Norman Conquests and Absurd Person Singular and, like these other works of the time, has lost none of its bite or profundity in the intervening years.

In fact, as assistant director Emma Butler points out, Absent Friends and its ilk paved the way for much of the cutting-edge comedy which followed, from Alan Partridge to The Office.

The cast appear to relish all the challenges, throwing themselves into the roles with exuberance - perhaps a little too much exuberance at times. The mixture of well-meaning and boorish characters comes together for an afternoon tea party at which old wounds and new wounds are opened.

Lisa Burrows combines forcefulness and vulnerability as troubled Diana, the hostess who oversees this reunion of old friends, putting up with the gormless new mum Evelyn, perfectly played by Kathryn Ritchie, who has her head in a magazine throughout most of the play. No doubt these days she would be tapping away on her smart phone instead.

Kevin Drury is a suitably ebullient Paul, while Susie Emmett is a perfectly wonderful Marge, so concerned for the welfare of her hypochondriac husband Gordon, aka Jumbo, who, like Captain Mainwaring's wife in Dad's Army, is never seen but nevertheless is an intrinsic part of the plot.

John Dorney gives his all as the put-upon John, more hyper-active than a child after eating six helpings of jelly, while Pete Collis completes the line-up in the pivotal role of ridiculously happy Colin, whose ever-smiling features become less charming and more irritating as the action unfurls.

London Classic Theatre has chosen to stage Absent Friends to mark its 15th anniversary of taking top quality drama around the UK and Ireland.

Go along and help them celebrate and enjoy a spirited and highly-enjoyable version of one of our leading modern playwright's finest works.

Absent Friends is at The Theatre Royal, Windsor, until Saturday October 10.

If you miss it at Windsor, catch it at South Hill Park, Bracknell, on October 13 and 14, or the Beck Theatre at Hayes from November 5 to 7.

The Theatre Royal, 32 Thames Street, Windsor, West Berkshire, SL4 1PS - 01753 853888