Abigail's Party

Although this play was first broadcast in 1977, this is the first time that I have seen it. Southwick Players' choice of production was an absolute treat of comedy with its enactment of a brilliant script by Mike Leigh mainly about the social classes of the day. The content towards the end of the action is not a subject that one usually expects to find amusing but somehow, the comedy just continued to the very end.

The host and hostess of the party - not Abigail’s (that was my first surprise) - were Laurence and Beverley (James Witt & Victoria Storm-Collins). He was a very stressed estate agent and she was in a bit of a dream world. The tension between them was well acted out and the dialogue just flowed so naturally as she became more drunk and he more stressed.

The first guests to arrive were Tony and Angela (Ryan Etherington and  Ellie Mason). Angela did most of the talking and Tony’s replies were quite mono-syllabic as he was given very little time to reply. The hostess felt it was only right to crow about her successes and achievements but unfortunately, this fell on deaf ears by the happy-go-lucky guests who were just living a simple and non-complicated existence. Beverley and Angela had many exchanges and again all the dialogue flowed perfectly between them.

The last guest was Susan (Katherine James), a divorcee with a sensible head and a mind of her own but the interfering hostess was attempting to undermine her confidence as the evening ensued - but not with total success. This part was well cast and well played as she tussled with the many questions and solutions offered to her from the overbearing hostess.

The comedy in this production was cleverly managed in that as we get to know the characters, there is amusement and giggles. Then as the plot develops, there is laughter and as the story continues and the portrayed five persons are plied with alcohol and become more silly, the laughter increases greatly. One particular period of enjoyable humour was when Beverley forced everyone to dance which concluded with her making a fool of herself.   

The scenery and props were very much of the correct era. I remember moving into a house in the mid-seventies with brown, orange and green painted walls and skirtings. The technical side also excelled with sound effects and synchronization of actions on stage - neighbour’s party sounds and cassette tape playing.

I see from the programme that the director, Gary Cook is retiring and that this was his last production with the group after many years. This was indeed a wonderful swansong. Congratulations to him, the five excellent actors, the backstage crew and production unit for an amazing comical and entertaining piece of theatre.  

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