THE Sinodun Players' summer production this year is Shelagh Stephenson's first stage play, The Memory of Water, which won the Best Comedy award at the Laurence Olivier Awards of 2002 and went on to be made into a film, Before You Go.

The Memory of Water is a play which treads a fine line between humour and the heartbreak of pain.

It's the story of three sisters, Catherine, Teresa and Mary, who are haunted by their own demons. They have come together to bid farewell to their deceased mother and discover that by calling on shared memories they can survive the despair of losing their mother and come to terms with their own lives.

Or can they?

Each sister holds distinct memories of their collective childhoods and each have their interpretation of what these memories mean.

Throughout the play, the sisters struggle over who remembers which events more clearly, only to find that individual memories and experiences can become fuzzy and that family stories told many times can become distorted.

Constant bickering about whose memories are true runs through the play, as the women get together after years of separation. However, in the end, although the sisters are unable to agree on anything, they remain unified by their familial bond.

The play gets its title from a popular phrase, mostly associated with homeopathy, which suggests that water is capable of retaining a memory of particles once dissolved in it. The Memory of Water runs at the Corn Exchange, Wallingford, from Tuesday, July 22, until Saturday, July 26. Tickets can be booked at the Corn Exchange or by ringing the box office, (01491) 825000, on Fridays and Saturdays between 10am and 12.30pm, or on performance evenings between 7pm and 7.30pm.