One sees the entire open set on entry, which Beverly (Laura Rogers) enters, double-checking everything is in order. Her body language and behaviour soon set her character.
Estate agent husband Laurence (Leander Deeny) is next to enter and immediately put under interrogation: where has he been, did he remember the beers, get changed etc, etc. They are having some neighbours round for drinks and some ‘cheesy pineapple bits’. The new neighbours, Angela (Chaya Gupta) and husband Tony (Joe Blakemore), are later joined by an established resident, divorced Susan (Amy Rockson), whose 15-year-old daughter Abigail is having a party.
While this is called Abigail’s Party, it is more a story of pretensions, social masks, feelings, marriages, couples, how they treat each other and everything that relationships can involve. Its popularity may be due to audiences recognising some of the characters and feeling sorry or sympathy for them. Beverly has no uncertainty about her opinion of a husband who loves art, the classics in music and reading and olives; she thinks all these things are dreadful and cannot understand what Laurence sees in them. She is also very ‘physical’, while she says he is dead from the waist down.
Beverly and Angela have both been married three years, but it appears both girls have their ‘issues’. To balance this, Susan is very polite, restrained and often finds the situation embarrassing, trying as hard as she can to placate matters, especially when Beverly bullies her into the boys checking out on Abigail, which Amy does not want. This all culminates in a serious outcome I will not reveal in case you do not know the story.
This perennial play first released in 1977 and, adapted to TV in 1979, still remains a favourite. Set in the 1970s in suburbia, its array of characters still say a lot about relationships: people never change that much. The first Beverly was Leigh’s then wife, Alison Steadman. This production has a strong cast, each showing their different characters in their body language and delivery. It is a good thing the stage is large to accommodate the multi-locational set: toilet, utility room, dining room, kitchen, lounge and a minicar.
As often, much can achieved with less: sound is wonderful for the imagination, a toilet flush as opposed to seeing a toilet, like the sound of a bell or door closing indicated ‘front door’. It was entertaining to see a car on set, but would not an engine noise and slamming of doors sufficed? While a small matter, it is difficult to see a woman who keeps her settee covered in a plastic sheet allowing folk to keep their shoes on walking all over her white fluffy carpet. None of this seemed to worry the full house, who found much amusement in the well-delivered comic remarks.
There is one local lad in the cast, the RADA graduate Geordie Joe Blakemore, who delivers a wonderfully restrained performance. Playwright Mike Leigh, another RADA graduate amongst other qualifications, has written and directed over 20 stage plays apart from his numerous feature and TV films and is also well known for his great use of improvisation. Northern Stage has a wee link with this play, having first opened in 1970 as the University Theatre and still providing the area with good drama.
This classic tours till November but can still be seen in Newcastle until 28 September.
One to see.