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Interviews
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A Consummate Professional Philip Fisher interviews Elizabeth Berrington, currently starring in Abigail's Party at the New Ambassadors The first impression that you have when you meet Elizabeth Berrington is that she is a consummate professional. She has managed to fit an interview and a sandwich between the Thursday matinee and evening performances of Abigail's Party. As the interview finishes, she rushes off to help an understudy to rehearse for a performance the following week. This is not a lady who sits back on her laurels and enjoys the remarkable success and accolades that her performance as Beverly have already brought. Her dressing room is filled with reminders of Mike Leigh's wonderful play. Two of her characters' green dresses hang on pegs and a pop art postcard of the Sex Pistols' God Save the Queen, the final motif of the play is pushed into her mirror. Elizabeth has already enjoyed a wide range of parts on stage and screen and has worked with some of the finest talents in Britain. She has appeared in two Mike Leigh films, one by Peter Greenaway, Mad Cows and the recent hit, Quills. She came to Abigail's Party from two other roles in plays that give women a fair chance, The Shagaround and Caryl Churchill's Top Girls. It is a cause of great pride that her appearance in Abigail's Party is at the personal request of Mike Leigh, a man whom she clearly admires greatly. This is a production filled with real actors who are not soap stars and they have had 100 percent support from the playwright throughout. As he has been at pains to emphasise, he is really pleased with the result. She is absolutely delighted that the current run, including a 16-week sell-out at Hampstead, is the longest for any play that she has worked on in her career. Top Girls toured very successfully for about four months, finally appearing to critical acclaim at the Aldwych Theatre in London. At its new home at the New Ambassadors, Abigail's Party is booking until 5 April and there is a hope that it will run long beyond that. The cast though, takes things one week at a time and "the play is still getting better". Elizabeth is really pleased about the move to the West End. As she says, "This gives us a real chance to appear in the press. The play is now constantly being selected for various papers' Top Fives, best play etc". One amazing fact is that the star of the show has never seen the original TV production. She is in a minority amongst those with an interest in drama, as its original showing was seen by no fewer than 16 million people. She is able to explain this phenomenon "there was a technicians strike on ITV that Saturday night and with only three channels everyone saw it". She's much happier working afresh with director David Grindley and Mike Leigh's "wonderful script" to create her personal vision of the true Beverly. The last thing she wants to be is an inferior imitator of Alison Steadman, who created the part. From the very beginning when she spends about five minutes on stage alone, giving a minor physical performance as Beverly prepares the living room for the fray, this is a voyage of self-discovery. She's very pleased that David Grindley gave the actors great freedom to develop their characters. More unusually, designer Jonathan Fensom also allowed the cast considerable input. The script is so rich that there is no need to devise as Mike Leigh's original cast did. Elizabeth believes that the play still speaks to people today, 25 years after its first performance. The major change in society that it makes apparent is the removal of the patronising sexism of the Seventies. Of Beverly, the major part in everyone's eyes except those of the modest actress, she says, "a wonderful part - not many actors get to play such a brilliant part. It is a huge emotional journey". She does not really personally identify with Beverly because "She's not very happy and I am happy. We have completely different values. After all, an actor is a chameleon." She goes on to emphasise that the main reason why the show has been such a success both at Hampstead and now on its West End transfer is that the whole cast, together with the creative team, have moulded into a perfect team and they clearly get along incredibly well. As she says, while Beverly "the mouthy one" runs the party, she needs her "flunkey", Ange to keep her going. Elizabeth Berrington has a very mature attitude to an acting career that started as a little girl who wanted to emulate Glenda Jackson. She is absolutely delighted with the success of Abigail's Party and sees it as an opportunity to further her career. She's really optimistic that Beverly will make a big difference to her future. As she says, "I've never done any Shakespeare. It would be nice to have the opportunity". A nice big film or TV role would be equally tempting. When asked about her favourites play in London this year, she immediately plumped for Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train by Stephen Adly Guirgis at the Donmar. The reason for this is "I'm really interested in the way American actors work and train. This is not something we provide in this country". It is really good to see a talented actress who does not yet have a big name leading a successful West End play. There is little doubt that everybody interested in British Theatre will be delighted if Abigail's Party proves to be a precedent that takes Theatre back to actors rather than media superstars. Elizabeth's final quote says it all "we're having a lovely time and I'm very proud of the show". Who could ask for more?
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