Vera Brittain's experiences before, during and after the First World War are courageously and minutely detailed in her memoirs.

Parental opposition to her having a university education, and the dreary social life she observed in her native Buxton impelled her to break with tradition and seek something better. The Oxford scholarship she won was rudely interrupted by the outbreak of the war – she was only able to complete her studies years later, in very difficult circumstances.

Her resilience and strong character enabled her to endure dreadful experiences. A voluntary nurse, she suffered harsh conditions both in London hospitals and in Flanders, but continued writing to save her sanity. The deaths of her fiancé, brother and their friends were terrible blows, but she did survive. Later she committed herself to international understanding in the early days of the League of Nations, travelling widely in Europe, writing and campaigning exhaustively for women's rights. Her autobiographical Testament of Youth is often seen as a loving memorial to the lost generation whose deaths had been so cruel, but whose vitality she was determined would not be forgotten.

Rohan McCullough's one-woman interpretation of the work, on a Theatre Royal tour, is remarkably successful. Her careful selection of incidents and descriptions begins as Vera's school ends and adult life beckons, and ends with the loss of her adored brother Edward. Rohan's performance is totally persuasive. She changes from the vivacious eighteen-year old, giggling about her brother's friends, to the tragic and exhausted nurse, bombed out of her temporary ward in France, yet she remains consistently in character.

She needs few props – a couple of tables and chairs and a few letters suffice. The drama resonates in Vera's words, which completely hold the audience, and Rohan's expressive manner. The combination is a theatrical masterpiece in which the power of the original is not lost, even though much is inevitably omitted.

If you missed this play, you'll just have to go and read the book. Go and read it anyway. It will challenge, but won't disappoint. And just make sure you don't miss Rohan next time round.

Mary Dunk