Bolton Little Theatre offer a perfect slice of Willy Russell's One for the Road

Kev Walsh (Dennis Cain), Alison Whittaker (Pauline Cain), Simon Mott (Roger Fuller) and Charlotte Carlin (Jane Fuller) made up the small but perfectly formed cast of working class social climbers desperate to get their fingertips on the next rung of the ladder, bringing a few laughs along the way.

Set in the 1980s somewhere “up north” — not Liverpool in this instance — in the living room of the Cain residence, the story follows Pauline, who spends a lot of her time her doing her damndest to keep up with the Joneses (aka her smug neighbours Jane and Roger), and her poor husband Dennis who is trying to come to terms with how his once exciting life has panned out.

Kev’s portrayal of a frustrated husband who dreams of years gone by (and passionately hates John Denver) is hilariously executed, and equally Alison’s take on Pauline as a nit picking wife pottering about worrying about whether her posh friend Jane would approve was superb.

Jane and Roger were more than preoccupied trying to find out the identity of a garden vandal, and their dynamic as the "perfect" couple was spot on, giving their often uninformed advice throughout the story.

As poor Dennis's "midlife crisis" blossomed on the eve of his 35th birthday, what had the making of quite a melancholy storyline as he reminisced about days gone by was injected with plenty of funny moments (what is Dennis hiding in his bureau?) and a well-timed fall over the table.

The music and the scenery added to the atmosphere of what a ‘Phase Two’ estate would have been like 30 years ago, and although it was just set in one room the narrative flowed well, and the each of the cast members’ ability to raise a laugh in very different ways was a delight to see.

The production, which runs until Saturday and is directed by Simon Mott, offers the perfect antidote to beat the impending autumn blues.