THE artistic vision of Hull Truck Theatre now rests with chief executive Andrew Smaje, whose mission statement leads off the programme.

Acknowledging the past contributions of Alan Plater, Anthony Minghella, John Godber, Richard Bean and Amanda Whittington, Mr Smaje says: “Now we have the chance to discover the wider world of writers, like Alan Bennett… and we want to discover the new generation of writers who will go on to become the Godbers, Bennetts and Platers of the future.”

So, Mr Smaje’s rebranding of Hull Truck will involve “the pleasure of discovery and the thrill of the new”. Outwardly, putting on a Bennett play in his Yorkshire homeland might not fit that new brief but, surprisingly, The Lady In The Van is only the second Truck performance of his work in 39 years.

This “signature production” has involved London rehearsals; a star name (Nichola McAuliffe); an in-demand directing talent (Sarah Esdaile, fresh from The Deep Blue Sea at the West Yorkshire Playhouse); and a continuation of the break with Hull Truck’s usual suspects on stage.

It is a risky strategy, and maybe it was only my imagination, but last Friday’s audience – well short of a full house – didn’t look like a regular Hull Truck crowd either.

As it happens, what they saw was a very good production, one that affirms that high quality, rather than familiarity, will be increasingly important in building up an audience after the stuttering start to Hull Truck’s new era at Ferensway.

The lady of the title is Miss Shepherd (McAuliffe), a cantankerous vagrant with a whiff of onions and bodily functions, who parked her battered old van on the driveway of Alan Bennett’s Camden residence and stayed for 15 years.

The play is Bennett’s attempt to analyse his “relationship” with her, as related by not one but two Alan Bennetts (Paul Kemp and James Holmes) in identical tweed jackets, shirt and tie. One Bennett, altruistic and naïve, is drawn to caring for her welfare, when faced by a mysterious nocturnal visitor and local thugs; the other, the withering, older narrator, views her more coldly as fodder for a play.

The blurring of truth and artistic licence is emphasised by Ben Stones’s design of a black-bricked wall, above ground level with Bennett’s window at its centre and the van below.

The two Bennetts are sat either side of his desk at the front, contemplating life, his interfering mother and the craft of writing.

All three central performances are impressive, Kemp and Holmes’s Bennett double act never falling into caricature as the writer wrestles with his conscience. McAuliffe, one of our very best character actresses, captures the slyness, the bloody-minded ways, the darkness and mystery, yet blunt, anti-establishment wisdom of the tenacious, if batty Miss Shepherd.

Add the spectacular finale, and Esdaile’s highly humorous, yet sincere production has the measure of play and stage alike.

The Lady In The Van, Hull Truck Theatre, Hull, until May 7; on tour until July 16, including Harrogate Theatre, July 5 to 9. Box office: Hull, 01482 323638; Harrogate, 01423 502116