Abigail's Party 40th anniversary production starring Amanda Abbington as Beverly, Ben Caplan as Laurence, Charlotte Mills as Angela, Ciarán Owens as Tony and Rose Keegan as Susan. Picture: Nobby Clark
It has been 40 years since the appalling Beverly first put Donna Summer on the turntable, stacked a plate with cheesey-pineapple on toothpicks, plied her guests with alcohol, cigarettes and Demis Roussos and slow-danced her way across the shag-pile into theatrical history.
I was extremely lucky to catch the closing night performance of a fantastic 40th anniversary production of Abigail's Party on my last night in the Richmond, Surrey area, before flying back to California after an April visit with family. My sister, Lindsey is a regular theatre-goer and snapped up tickets to the show that is most likely to be picked up by the West End, given its star performances, swanky set and non-stop laughs.
If you're not familiar with this 70s classic, the drinks party from hell begins when Beverly and estate agent husband Laurence invite round new neighbours, Tony and Ange, along with nervous divorcee Sue, jittery about the bash her teenage daughter, Abigail. As the teenager's party gets out of hand, this one too descends into chaos. Comedy, drama and tragedy combine into an iconic piece of theatre. Hilarious and horribly compelling, Mike Leigh’s Abigail’s Party remains an undisputed classic.
I haven't giggled and belly laughed so much in months! After the show, we walked over to the pub across the road for a beer and later, met most of this amazing cast, in person, enjoying their post performance pints.
Amanda Abbington is best-known for playing Mary Morstan in Sherlock, Miss Mardle in Mr Selfridge and DS Jo Moffat in Cuffs.
The cast also included Ben Caplan (BBC's Call The Midwife; Sunny Afternoon, the Kinks musical) as Laurence, with Rose Keegan (Bedroom Farce, Aldwych Theatre) as Susan, Charlotte Mills (Jerusalem, Royal Court) as Angela, and Ciarán Owens (Titus Andronicus, RSC) as Tony.
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