Chicken Soup With Barley *****

Although it’s over 50 years old, Arnold Wesker’s social drama - the first of a trilogy - still resonates today with its judicious intermingling of the personal and the political.

It follows the fortunes of the East End Jewish Kahn family as they react to historic events (from the antifascist protests in 1936, through the aftermath of the Second World War, to the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956) but is anchored by the indomitable Sarah whose belief in Communism remains unshaken throughout.

One by one, her disillusioned former comrades and her children desert the cause, but Sarah remains committed to her ideals, passionately declaring to her disenchanted son Ronnie (Tom Rosenthal) that “if you don’t care you’ll die.”

It may sound rather serious, but there’s humour as well as sadness in Dominic Cooke’s excellent production. And Samantha Spiro as Sarah (dishing out food and endless cups of tea over two decades) and Danny Webb as Harry (her weak, chronically work-shy husband whose health deteriorates cruelly in parallel with the loss of faith in Soviet ideology) give terrific performances which themselves alone more than justify the revival of this partly autobiographical drama which helped make Wesker’s name.

Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS Tube: Sloane Square (020 7565 5000) royalcourttheatre.com Until 9th July (£10-£28)