Abigail's Party (UK Tour)
Milton Keynes Theatre
Reviewed on Monday 13th May 2013
Mike Leigh's Abigail's Party is one of my favourite plays. I previously saw this production last year in the West End and loved every second so I was looking forward to seeing the brand new touring cast in action. The storyline is very simple, following Beverly and Laurence who have invited round their new neighbours, Tony and Ange for an evening in. They have also invited their nervous neighbour Sue whose daughter, Abigail is hosting her fifteenth birthday party. As the evening progresses more and more alcohol is consumed and sparks begin to fly...
For the majority of Abigail's Party the storyline is actually very loose, the show is mostly about the strong characters. Ex-Eastenders actress Hannah Waterman leads the cast well as Beverly, following in the footsteps of Jill Halfpenny who played the role in the West End last year. It took me a while to warm to Hannah but she won me over with her outrageous, fearless and flirtatious portrayal. Beverly is always centre of attention and I love the way she overuses the other characters names.
The funniest performance comes from Katie Lightfoot as poor, ditzy Angela who constantly finishes her husband's sentences and tells endless humiliating stories about their relationship. Katie's delivery is priceless and had me in stitches on many occasions. Samuel James plays her husband, Tony. Unfortunately his portrayal is a little two-dimensional and too shallow for my liking. While all the characters in Abigail's Party should be played very over the top I felt Samuel just threw many lines away.
Emily Raymond is a little too feisty as Sue, who should be more of a timid and nervous character. This meant that some of the comedy between Beverly and Sue didn't quite work. Beverly's status should be far higher than Sue's so she can be as patronising and unsympathetic towards Sue as possible.
Mike Britton's design is very realistic and transports you back to the seventies. Upon entry to the theatre the curtain is already raised revealing the fabulous set, I overheard a lot of people discussing the iconic orange printed wallpaper.
Abigail's Party is a funny, easygoing play which features some hysterical moments. At first the play seems harmless but it builds and builds, ending on quite a sombre note. Regardless of whether you have seen the BBC television adaptation (which was voted 11th in a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes in 2000) Abigail's Party will always be a good, fun, classic piece of theatre.
Reviewed by Andrew Tomlins (Editor)
Abigail's Party runs at the Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday 18th May 2013.
Visit www.atgtickets.com/shows/abigails-party to book tickets.
No comments:
Post a Comment