Befrank Theatre Company have clearly put hours of thought and effort into this devised piece, which opens as a group of family members, clearing the house after the death of an aged parent, converse amid cardboard boxes of possessions – some for relatives, some for a charity shop, some for the tip.

The play, with a large creative team, was devised by Neil Walker after he witnessed the repatriation of the bodies of soldiers killed in Afghanistan through Wootton Bassett, the town now honoured with a Royal title.

In a bid for authenticity, the play relies on the recorded delivery technique, in which actors with earpieces hear people interviewed by Neil Walker and replicate their lines, with associated hesitation, cough or stutter.

Verbatim theatre is an apt description, but in attempting to cover a vast canvas, it lacked cohesion.

Neil Walker, as Andy, draws on his personal background of family and military life, while three fellow actors play four roles each, with appropriate adjustments to costume, voice and demeanour.

Craig Hendry, Joanne Waters and Luke Shepherd portray incidents, attitudes, emotions, ambitions, fears, personal barriers, tragedy and the legacy of historic and more recent conflicts, both individual and international.

The packing cases are piled up to create an improvised cine-screen on which images, distorted by shiny adhesive tape, accentuate the fragmented nature of the play.

The boxes also form a plinth, and a coffin, draped solemnly with the Union flag.

The entire project was developed over three years, and at a talk after the performance, Neil Walker said: “The story came to me, rather than imposing myself on the story.”

The play emphasises that Wootton Bassett’s response, which was “absolutely outside politics”, has wider significance in its personal and public demonstration of respect, caring and support for Service personnel and all who mourn them.

The pertinent conclusion is familiar: “In order for evil to flourish, all that is necessary is for good men to do nothing.”