Abigail’s Party
About the Production
Somewhere on the London side of Essex, Beverley and Laurence Moss are holding a drinks party for their new neighbours, Angela Cooper and her husband Tony, who moved in just two weeks ago. They also invite divorcee Susan, whose 15-year-old daughter, Abigail, is holding her first teenage party next door.
Beverley, an ex-department store cosmetics demonstrator with a love of Demis Roussos records, desperately tries to impress her guests, forcing cigarettes and drink on them while continually clashing with her less flamboyant estate agent husband, Laurence. He’s in her bad books, arriving back home late from work, only just before the guests appeared. Laurence aspires to better things, even if he doesn’t quite understand them, and has decorated their house with Van Gogh and Lowry prints, as well as a leather bound collection of Shakespeare that’s there to be seen, not read.
Quietly spoken, verging on taciturn Tony, an ex-Crystal Palace football player, is in computing and his wife, the seemingly childlike and cheerfully tactless Angela, is a nurse. The house purchase has been a bit of stretch for them financially, and they’re feeling the pinch.
Sue is a longstanding resident, quiet, conventional and ill-at-ease, having misunderstood the invitation and not ‘dressed up’. Expecting food, she finds herself becoming more and more hungry as the evening progresses but tries to keep the hunger at bay by eating peanuts. The constant round of drink ‘top-ups’ is also making her feel unwell.
As the evening progresses and the drink flows, things become… interesting.
Mike Leigh’s play debuted in April 1977 at the Hampstead Theatre and was an instant success, spawning a revival that same summer which was a sell out. Quick to spot an easy win, the BBC filmed it in the autumn, and it was broadcast that November as a ‘Play for Today’.
A suburban situation comedy of manners, and a satire on the tastes of the the new middle classes of the 1970s, it evolved from a series of improvisations in which the actors played the characters but without knowing what events would take place while they did so. The various back stories were created by the original cast, drawing on their own experiences. For instance, John Salthouse, who played Tony, had been a professional footballer.
It has become something of a period piece, but is no less funny for all that.
The Cast
Behind the Scenes
Image Gallery
The Reviews
The Drinks Party From Hell’
I had long ago decided that this play was old hat, had dated and that I didn’t much care for the work of its creator Mike Leigh. I revised my opinion when I saw this production directed by Heidi Bush. She was also responsible for the 70’s set and this provided the key. Her attention to detail was remarkable. You have to display the Lowry and Van Gough as they are referred to in the text but the furniture was spot on and she had even obtained a horizontal music centre. The stage was at floor level in one corner with the seating in a semi-circle, which gave an intimacy, rather like watching television at home. We were given a glimpse into the lower middles attempt to rise up in the world and getting to know their neighbours.
It has been described as the drinks party from hell and the way they knocked back the G&Ts and the Bacardis should have pole-axed a steer. Housing estates were described as ‘where young people go to die’ and if this wasn’t one, it certainly seemed like it.
We never see Abigail who is 15 and holding a party for her peers next door. Beverley, played by Tina Poole, is 30 and determinedly downmarket which is a drag on her Estate Agent husband, of the ‘customer comes first’ variety, whose name is Lawrence (John Mills). She cleverly makes no attempt to engage our sympathy and her husband’s puerile attempts to persuade his guests of his cultural aspirations has the right twitchiness that leads ultimately to his cardiac arrest.
Angela, the nurse you would not want to be ill with, was marvellously overplayed by Emma Rose who extracted every nuance from her part, from the elongated vowel sounds to the foolish smile from beneath the spectacles. Even her teeth could act. Her husband, the monosyllabic (Jonathan Wales) was the perfect foil. To continually get laughs from one word answers and a look, was quite an achievement.
Sue (Amy Coates) as the divorcee with the daughter, Abigail, showed the necessary certainty in her indecisiveness but she did not look old enough to have a 15 year old daughter.
This was a polished production and when the heart attack occurred and our nurse stepped into action we realised that in matters of life and death: consumerism, aspirations and culture are of little moment.
Peter Steptoe for The Croydon Advertiser
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