Edward Bond's 1981 play Restoration is at the Oxford Playhouse until tomorrow in a new production by the Headlong Theatre Company, which was previously known as the Oxford Stage Company. Like much of Bond's work, it is a dark piece of writing. It ridicules the English aristocracy of the 17th century, chiefly through the figure of the foppish Lord Are (Mark Lockyer), while starkly depicting their indifference and even outright cruelty to the working-class folk who depend on them for a living. But since there is little in those workers to arouse our sympathy either, the social picture appears bleak indeed.

The play deals mainly with the consequences of Lord Are's decision to make his servant Bob (Mark Stobbart) admit responsibility for the murder of his wife. In fact, the disillusioned Lady Are (Dorothea Myer-Bennett) dies at the end of her husband's rapier when she comes down to breakfast dressed as a ghost in an ill-advised attempt to frighten him into an early grave. The unfortunate Bob never budges from his belief that in standing trial he is doing his duty as an Englishman, trusting that his master will obtain him a pardon before he goes to the gallows.

The lifestyle of these Restoration characters at times verges on the farcical and there are many very funny lines in the play, not least at the moments when the stereotypes take on a 21st-century resonance. The appalling Lord Are cares only about clothes and gets in a frightful tantrum when his housekeeper lays out the wrong outfit for him, and with a button missing. For the aristocrat, Bob's appointment with the hangman is not so much a tragedy as a fashion opportunity.

Another stereotype is the parson (Robert East), whose hypocrisy lies chiefly in his unquestioning acceptance of the social attitudes of his masters. He is, however, responsible for a nice moment when he dismisses Bob's catalogue of his past misdeeds as not so much confessing as boasting.

The play is frequently interspersed with songs, and this production has apparently added two more to the tally, although the point of them was lost on me. There is no attempt by the cast to sing them in character, so there is an awkward shift from the working-class accents of Bob and his family to a diction that is unexpectedly posh. A trio of instrumentalists is a constant presence at the back of the stage and this, despite their undoubted skill, adds to the uncomfortable sense of dislocation that for me characterises the whole play.