The Playhouse is situated in the heart of city centre of Liverpool. The theatre is small, but very intimate and so elegant in its surroundings. The building itself has a very rich history as it’s full of character, plus has some great architecture too. Abigail’s Party is the iconic, groundbreaking play that everyone adores and has a great deal of affection for. Although the decor of the set and the characters have since changed, the play has certainly stood the test of time, with a superb narrative and interesting characters.
Mike Leigh’s iconic Abigail’s Party is still one of Britain’s most celebrated and much loved comedies. The play managed to thrill and delight the audience in such equal measure, with its one-liners throughout the play and an array of interesting characters. Abigail’s Party was brilliantly directed by Sarah Esdaile, who has done a marvellous job directing the play. Her work can be demonstrated throughout the play.
Welcome to 1970’s surburbia and its mix of free-flowing cocktails, classic disco tunes, cheese and pineapple sticks. Tensions rise and tempers flare from the warring couples wth hilarious and potentiallly disastrous consequences. As the alcoholic drinks kept flowing, so did the small talk and opinions are shared between the characters throughout the evening.
A running theme through Abigail’s Party was marriage with each of the character’s marriage in a different stage. Humour, pain and pathos are classically connected to each other throughout this play. It’s an hilarious nostalgic snapshot of what married life was like in the late 1970s.
Stage and TV Star, Jodie Prenger, Coronation Street and Emmerdale favourite, Vicky Binns and Daniel Casey, probably best known for his role as DS Troy in Midsomer Murders lead the cast in this ground-breaking comedy classic.
Abigail’s Party opened with Beverly (Jodie Prenger) dancing around the living room to soft music, wearing an extremely colourful dress, smoking a cigarette in one hand and holding cheese and pineapple sticks in another. She was making last minute preparations for her dinner party until the neighbours arrive. Beverly and husband, Lawrence Moss (Daniel Casey) were throwing a dinner party for their newly wed neighbours, Angela (Vicky Binns) and Tony Cooper (Callum Callaghan), to welcome them into the area. Joining them was highly strung, Susan, who’s been banished from her home as her teenage daughter, Abigail is having a party there.
Prenger excelled in her performance as the dinner party host, who kept topping up everyone’s drinks or offering an opinion, whether it was wanted or not. She captured the audience instantly with her one-liners and funny looks. Additionally, she provided most of the comedy, which the audience loved. Her outrageous flirting with Tony was mesmerising to watch and provided a lot of awkwardness with the couples, causing arguements and jealousy with Lawrence and Angela.
Prenger did a wonderful job of clowning between scenes, especially when the music played. As the play progressed, her performance became more grotesque and a pleasure to watch at the same time. We all fondly remembered her very distinct character's voice.
Lawrence was a very uptight and a social-climbing estate agent with aspirations of achieving more in life. He remained patient until a certain point, then his anger and frustrations got the better of him, as he inevitably lost his patience with Beverly and his behaviour became more erratic. Daniel Casey played him incredibly well. It was a pleasure seeing him perform as I haven’t seen him since his days as Sgt. Troy in Midsomer Murders.
The chemistry between Prenger and Casey was wonderful to watch. There were elements of annoyance one minute and enjoyment the next. They are both trapped in a sexless marriage and having arguments with each other over trivial matters in the play.
Vicky Binns brought a great deal of sweet naivety to her character, Angela, who was an absolute joy to watch on stage. She probably did share too much information about her marriage to Tony (Callum Callaghan) to her fellow neighbours, much to his annoyance. Tony was frequently struck between his wife and Beverly. He revelled in all the attention that Beverly was giving him, much to the frustrations of Angela.
Not welcome at her home, Sue (Rose Keegan) tolerated the other neighbours' behaviour and found it difficult answering some awkward questions about her marriage that had recently broken down. She was extremely reserved and kept quiet regarding her neighbours’ shenanigans.
The set design was beautifully designed by Janet Bird, who did an excellent job transporting the audience to the late 1970s with the beige leather couches, chintzy wallpaper, a record player and a fully-stocked cocktail cabinet which dominated the surroundings. The set utilised 1970’s colours and appeared extremely retro too. A lot of attention to detail was taken into consideration regarding all aspects of the set and props.
Costumes and wigs were really good, fitted so well with the 1970’s era and the individual characters. The costumes were very eye-catching and colourful. Again, attention to detail was extremely notable throughout. The lighting by Paul Pyant was done incredibly well to light the set and changed, when the mood of the scene did. Sound by Mic Pool was excellent throughout as I could hear every line of dialogue, plus the music in the background from Abigail’s Party could be heard too.
The choreography for the dance scenes was memerising to watch and created a lot of jealousy and awkwardness, which heightened the tensions so much more. There were a few songs played out during the perfornance, which reflected the characters' emotions and the particular mood of the scenes as well.
I would highly recommend going to see this iconic, ground-breaking play as I enjoyed the play immensely, with a fresh look on the original play and high production values displayed in the play. It was a such great idea touring the play, as it gives audiences all the country the opportunity to go and see this fantastic production, as Beverly would say.
Reviewer - Mark Cooper
on - 25/3/19
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