Remember the poll tax, the miners' strike and the loony left? And the addition to the English language of the splendid verb to handbag'? The all-female Foursight Theatre's sparkling production of Thatcher the Musical! (Oxford Playhouse until tomorrow) brings it all back in such excruciatingly familiar detail that it soon feels like Margaret Hilda never really left us.

Every member of the cast of nine takes a turn in the lead role, from Young Maggie (Julie Baker) to Elderly Maggie (Frances Land), via Military Maggie, Britannia Maggie and a few more besides. A constant presence on stage is Narrator Maggie, played most convincingly by Sarah Thom, who gives us Margaret in late middle age, commenting forcefully on her earlier incarnations and encouraging them along the way.

Handbags feature prominently, and not just as a fashion accessory. Young Maggie has a little one, and Military Maggie has one to match her combat gear, while the handbag that felled the Prime Minister's opponents in the early years becomes a source of comfort to her in her old age. When not called upon to don the leading lady's formidable wig, the versatile cast form a chorus that is variously a hostile mob, an assortment of dogs representing a servile cabinet, and a procession of Falkland Island penguins.

There is of course little in this that we don't know already, as the script draws on key speeches and Thatcher's own writing. But it is a joy to find one's prejudices so skilfully played out on stage. Maggie can't bring herself to say the word socialism' without gagging; her hero is General Pinochet; and her older self encourages her younger ones with the schoolmistressy exhortation "eyes on the prize, Margaret, eyes on the prize".

We are treated to a succession of half-forgotten figures from Alan Clark ("you dirty dog"), Heseltine and Howe to Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan, and invited to believe that had it not been for Denis and Nancy the course of history might have been rather different. And always there is the suggestion that the spirit, even the philosophy of Thatcherism remains alive and well, summed up in the line "Look into the eyes of Tony Blair - I am there".

This is a kind portrayal of the Iron Lady: some would say too kind. Only once, in the scenes following the third election victory, do we see the rolling eyes and demented demeanour beloved of Private Eye and Steve Bell, and the picture of old age is gently done. But it is worth keeping an eye on the only man on stage, keyboard player and guitarist Duncan Chave. Does he know something he's not telling us?

Thatcher the Musical! is wonderful entertainment. Catch it if you can.