ABIGAIL'S PARTY: Touring till 10 April.
ABIGAIL'S PARTY: Mike Leigh
B'ham Rep till 6 September and touring
Tkts (Bham Rep) 0121 236 4455)
Runs: 2h 15m, one interval
Review: Rod Dungate, 28 August 2003
A joy: this iconographic play seen in its true light in a sympathetic productionWhat a joy! Mike Leigh's play is back with a vengeance has it ever been away? David Grindley's detailed, well-paced, humorous and cool production brings out all that is best in this work.
ABIGAIL'S PARTY enjoyed great success when it was first performed: the play was sharp and Leigh's in-depth development of his texts through improvisation with a close-knit team of actors was producing work of unusual intimacy and realness. At the time though, there was an uncomfortable edge the mirror was not being held up to the audience but reflected a group of people the audience could look down on as upstarts without real taste.
Beverly, wife of an estate agent, invites new neighbours round for drinks to get to know them. Another neighbour (whose daughter Abigail is having a teenage party) also joins them. All the cracks appear as the alcohol flows.
With the searchlight of the years now on the play we can see more clearly how Leigh captured in a snapshot a wave in history just as it was forming. Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979. Here, in Silver Jubilee year, 1977, we have an upwardly rising class, lacking in taste and social graces, yes, attached to possessions and their visible manifestations, yes, but who would, within a few years be running our government and industries. In a truly iconographic play, Leigh encapsulates the times.
Interestingly it's the women who apparently rule the roost . . . though male violence lurks not far below the surface.
But, at least in Grindley's production, we cannot sit back and watch disinterestedly from superior positions. We may laugh and we laugh easily and a lot we also empathise with the characters. None more so than in Lizzy McInnerny's superb performance as Beverly. Desperate to be modern and sophisticated, desperate to be a free spirit (bless her, her hand-waving dancing is already out of date) we see her imprisoned by her attempts to achieve these. Her tragedy is that she doesn't see herself and there's our connection. Universal. Timeless. McInnerny can reduce us to laughter with a simple (well, not exactly simple) 'Come through . . .', she can drag us into her head as she describes the beauty of sunbathing in Majorca. McInnerney's gentle, subtle, three-dimensional, ingenuous character looks us straight in the eye 'Judge me if you dare.' We daren't.
This is a strong acting team who create an ease between themselves that brings the play powerfully to life. And all within Jonathan Fensom's delightfully accurate designs.
Beverly: Lizzy McInnerny
Laurence: Huw Higginson
Angela: Elizabeth Hopley
Tony: Simon Wilson
Susan: Liz Crowther
Director: David Grindley
Design: Jonathan Fensom
Lighting: Jason Taylor
Sound: Gregory Clarke
2003-08-29 10:57:38