After William Shakespeare and Alan Ayckbourn, John Godber is one of Britain’s best-loved playwrights. The award-winning Bouncers, Up ‘n’ Under, and the terrific Perfect Pitch continue to delight audiences.

Teechers was first performed in 1987, and this current version by Blackeyed Theatre is halfway through a three-month 46-date UK tour.

The story remains the same – a young, wellmeaning drama teacher in a tough comprehensive struggles with unruly classes, cynical colleagues and obstructive caretakers, before considering a job in a private school.

However, the period is updated, with the teacher spending grim evenings with endless and tedious marking and preparation, while listening to James Blunt and Coldplay.

Contemporary backing tracks include Gangnam Style and Don’t Stop Believing from Glee, but the core themes of educational struggle, disillusionment and despair remain.

Three hard-working actors – Jacob Addley, Nicole Black and Donna Preston – deliver 23 characters on a minimalist set of three tables and chairs.

Although dialogue is occasionally overwhelmed by the backing music, with frenetic and sometimes indistinct delivery turning characters into cartoonish caricatures, the most telling scenes are the quiet moments as the teacher reflects on the uneven nature of British education.

In his wonderfully perceptive programme notes, director Adrian McDougal quotes Albert Einstein: “Education is not the learning of facts (take note Michael Gove!) but the training of the mind to think”.

After 30 successful years, John Godber’s marvellous play Teechers continues to make audiences think.