People's Theatre
8th Feb 2022
Abigail's Party is a study in suburban one-upmanship and social consciousness. Beverley (Anna Dobson) has arranged a get together with the new neighbours, Angela and Tony, (Emma Jane Robson and Mark Burden) to welcome them to the neighbourhood. She has also invited Susan (Alison Carr)who's teenage daughter is having a party, and parents are definitely not welcome at it. The evening doesn't start well - Beverley's husband, Laurence (Sean Burnside), is late home from work and spends the first minutes home making calls to follow up on a client. Beverley is dressed to the nines ready for the evening and quickly loses patience with a husband who is clearly intent on ruining everything. It's clear that these two are a mismatched pair, and as the evening progresses their differences in their tastes become more obvious. Laurence is interested in art and classical music, Beverley loves Demis Roussos. As the gin and tonic flows, inhibitions and tongues loosen. Beverley and Laurence bicker with each other, and Beverley makes eyes at Tony. Things begin to move in an inappropriate direction. And all the while Abigail's party continues a few doors down. We hear snippets of what is happening - snogging in the garden, guys on motorbikes arriving - and Susan becomes increasingly perturbed both by the possible activity her daughter and her friends may be getting up to, and the actual activity between Beverley and Tony. The audience watch, almost voyeuristically, as the evening progresses, it is both funny and uncomfortable to see the different relationships revealed. Susan's discomfort as she tries to refuse drinks, but slowly sinks into inebriation...until a surfeit of gin on an empty stomach gets the better of her. The men strut round each other like stags, the veneer of politeness barely masking their antagonism. You just know it's not going to end well!
The set design and costumes are the epitome of 70s style, complete with beaded curtain at the kitchen door, and cheese and pickle cocktail sticks spiked into an orange, with a sound track of Demis Roussos and Elvis and Donna Summer.
These are funny and convincing performances by all the cast, but I especially like Alison Carr's quiet descent into inebriation, and her resigned acceptance of another little freshen up of her drink.
Well worth seeing - you'll laugh out loud while cringing at the social ineptitude of these characters.
Abigail's Party runs till Saturday 12th - accept the invitation.
Denise Sparrowhawk
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