Julie Flower’s exploration of her eccentric grandmother, based around the excavation of hoarded stock in her local shop, seems to speak to Flower’s childhood ambitions to be both actress and historian. The format imitates a series of presentations at a family history club, with Grandma providing a mildly provocative biography that includes supporting other eccentrics, refusing to conform to marital conventions and creating a space in 1980s Sheffield for community.

Flower takes delight in relating her discoveries (at times, she seems to race through the story, almost stumbling in her enthusiasm) but she builds up both a sense of era, through sage musical choices, and the matriarchal personality. Her investigative process is explained, while her childhood memories support her adult reflections, capturing the wonder of her grandmother and arguing that history need not be merely the listings of great men: it exists within extraordinary lives lived within the ordinary. 

Grandma’s Shop, Gilded Balloon Patter House, until 26 August, 12.20pm.