Abigails Party

Goodness me I was 33 in 1977 when I first saw Abigail’s Party on stage and on TV, and haven’t seen it since, so I'm grateful to Edenbridge Players for fitting me in for their performance on Friday night.

What a set!! Andrew Dore and your crew gave your audience a flashback into the 70s, everything about it and on it was in period, right down to the cup and saucer. The wallpaper was to die for in the 70s, just brilliant and masterful, my mum had something like that…. it looked so solid and workable. WELL DONE!! Andrew Robinson (Director), congratulations go out to you for getting the right cast for this ‘Abigail’s Party’ - it’s such a long time ago, since first directed, you were most probably not born, but you gave us a humdinger of an ‘Abigail’s Party’ - laugh out loud and a laugh a minute. You yourself had the part of Tony, a difficult part, you have to act in one-word answers. That’s so difficult well done. Beverly (Rachel Dresner): Beverly is a monstrous woman, she’s biting and bossy, not afraid of confrontation and incredibly insistent. She’s deeply unhappy and hiding that even from herself. Rachel, you gave us all this in your character of Beverly, beautifully portrayed even down to times you had to talk with a fag hanging out of your mouth, no easy feat and you could be heard…excellent!! 

Laurence (Steve Jones): Laurence is Beverley's husband; the pair frequently argue. He aspires to the finer things in life: leather-bound Shakespeare (which he thinks "can't be read"), He seems powerless to compete with Beverley's flamboyance, and compensates by working too much, as his wife points out on several occasions. While Laurence starts off behaving normally during at the party, he becomes increasingly hen-pecked by his wife, Steve you gave us all this. Perfect. Angela (Wendy Wilson): Tony's wife. A nurse, Angela appears meek and somewhat childish, unintelligent and very tactless. She can’t drive; Tony not wishing her to do so. She’s Interested in the mundane and simple things in life, much to her husband's annoyance, she comes into her own when Sue feels queasy after Laurence suffers a heart attack. Angela's apparent silliness is depicted in Wendy’s performance, also not easy to play on stage. Wendy could have gone over the top, but she got it just right.  Sue (Anna Rumgay): Sue is getting divorced and living down the road. She is at Beverley’s while Sue's 15-year-old daughter Abigail is holding the party from which the play's title is derived. A quiet character she does not really have the courage to say no, she is the only woman visibly not "dolled up" for the party. Clearly, Sue would rather be elsewhere... Sue appears to be anxious about the party, and at one point is sick in the bathroom. Anna had the right venerability for this part.

Edenbridge Players, what a play you gave us, I couldn’t fault it in any way, Perfect set, perfect choice of play for you. Well, done to all involved.

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