"Abigail's Party" by Mike Leigh
Derby Theatre.
The play, for anyone who doesn't know, is set in 1977 and is about a drinks party hosted by a couple called Beverley and Laurence, attended by guests Ange and Tony, who have newly moved into the street, and Susan, divorced for three years, a neighbour whose teenage daughter Abigail is having her own party at her house that same evening. As with most house party gatherings, it starts off with awkwardness, but as the alcohol kicks in, Beverley starts to flirt with Tony and they all loosen up a bit, which includes their tongues!
Rebecca Birch plays Beverley, the hostess with the mostest who flirts mercilessly with Tony while making sure Tony's wife gets tipsier and tipsier. Having not seen this play for a good few years, you can almost see where Catherine Tate got her inspiration from for one of her characters with how Rebecca plays this part. Southern upbringing trying to appear to be a class higher and loud with it. A wonderful comedy part and Rebecca's drunken acting was superb.
Susan (Sue) is played by Jo Castleton. What I love about the character writing for all five roles is the blatant stereotyping, and this divorcee with a fifteen year old daughter who requested that she is out of the house for the party, shows all the signs of a mother struggling on her own with an underlying anger for the young woman her husband had run off with, knowing that the daughter, Abigail, is heading for the troubled teenager label. She's slightly introvert but having her drink topped up on a regular basis soon reveals a braver woman. All of this shown by the wonderful character acting of Jo Castleton.
Alice De-Warrenne plays Angela, or Ange as she is dubbed by Bev is a wonderful role, and that voice was brilliant, only matched by Ange's choreography. Alice has channelled the original actor in the role, Janine Duvitski, to show the quirkiness of Ange. Ange is also a bit of a rebel, who is obviously punching above her weight with the ex footballer, Tony - I wonder when the term "wag" was invented? With all that drink inside her, she develops loose lips, but soon sobers up towards the end of Act Two! Beautifully played by Alice.
Tony is played by George Readshaw. We discover his fifteen minutes of fame, thanks to his wife, and some other things about him, that suitably embarrassed Tony. He broods and limits his speech and then discovers that someone has other intentions for his sportiness and good looks, and then Bev discovers that he can groove, making her dribbling as good as Tony's football skills. There's a lot of subtlety in George's acting, often there's just a look, an eyebrow raise or an eye roll that shows what he is thinking about his wife, but he's also on full alert when dancing with Bev!
Tom Richardson plays Laurence, husband to Beverley, over worked, stressed to the max and never a million miles away from his job. You get all of this in the first five minutes of his stage entrance. There are lots of comedy moments with this character, maybe because we can all see bits of ourselves in Laurence. He is into his books and his art, wanting to impress the guests with his knowledge, and I love the line regarding reading Shakespeare, because that line just pulls the virtual rug from under his art snobbery. With various levels of anger, ranging from quietly seething to bullying and borderline assault, here's proof of what a marvellous character write Mike Leigh really is.
Directed by Michael Cabot, I've always admired a Director, and/or actor, who can reel in an audience from the start with no speaking parts but get the attention required senza voce. For anyone who has seen this play before, you'll know what I mean because there was laughter even before a word was uttered; a tribute to the writing and physical comedy of the actor involved as well as the Director. It was paced perfectly with ebbs and flows with the characters, but it's the spaces where nothing happened nor words spoken that is the steel of an excellent Director, and this directed perfectly.
Bek Palmer designed the gloriously gaudy retro set as well as the gloriously gaudy retro costumes. The set took me back to my childhood with green, white and grey wallpaper, although we didn't have an orange three piece suite. The soda syphon, the lighting, the record player, drinks cabinet, nibbles and even the Cosmopolitan women's magazines all took me back in time.
The costumes for all five were wonderfully designed, Bev's flowing, Grecian style outfit matched with impossibly high heels, making her walk in the way I remember women doing back in the seventies. Laurence's grey three piece suit and tie. Angela's attempt to be fashionable but falling short, especially when compared to Bev's aoutfit. Tony's brown ensemble complete with polo neck jumper and flares. And Susan's dated, but age appropriate outfit, jarring slightly with those of these hipsters. I also love a good wig! All bringing back memories of growing up in the decade that style forgot.
With the time period being set firmly in 1977, the music is very important, and as soon as I think of this play, one artist springs to mind, Demis Roussos, which was used in the original BBC Play For Today airing in 1977. His hit "Forever And Ever", which was utilised in every stage version that I've seen of "Abigail's Party" is not played, opting instead for Jose Feliciano, (used in the original stage version), Elvis Presley (replacing Tom Jones), Donna Summer's sultry "Love To Love You Baby", and light classics, all of course on vinyl, creating that certain ambience for any "classy" suburban drinks gathering. Beethoven's Fifth Symphony was perfectly placed for the ending.
The play itself is timeless, and that said, when the lights in the theatre go down, it's like you've entered a time machine. It's gaudy, it has class as well as crass, it's one of the most wonderfully crafted pieces of theatre which makes you laugh and then the next moment makes you feel slightly uncomfortable or embarrassed. It's like viewing a piece of history for the first time, and I'd forgotten just how much I love this play.
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