Abigail's Party

When Beverly Moss decides to throw a party everyone else has to bow to her wishes. Over-worked husband Laurence tries to please her as best he can while new neighbour Ang and Tony, invited to introduce them to the rest of the Close, are shell shocked at first but are soon coerced into the enforced jollity that Beverly bullies everyone into. Also dragged into the mayhem is old neighbour Sue whose 11 year old daughter, Abigail, is throwing the titular party.
And so the scene is set for a savage satire of aspirational suburbia of the seventies, and especially Essex. Beverly's adenoidal estuary twang and braying laugh punctuate her desperate attempts to show she has risen above her roots. A monster, of course, but a deeply sad and unfulfilled one.
As the party progresses the brittle atmosphere between Bev and Laurence serves to open up cracks in all their relationships until the pressure gets too much and it all ends in tears.
Alison Steadman famously created the role of Beverly both in the original production and in the subsequent famous portrayal on BBC. Wisely Natalie Thomas has not tried to emulate her portrayal but still retains the very worst of her vocal tics. Ably supported by a cast of four others this provides an evening of laugh out loud moments in amongst the cringe worthy characterisations.
Director Suba Das's in the round staging does mean that some of the audience misses some of the facial expressions but this doesn't really detract from the piece. However, it does have the advantage of brining the audience right into Beverly's living room thereby appreciating the excruciating attention to detail, from the garish carpet (very accurate from memory) to the upmarket (then) ghastly Maples furniture.
Abigail's Party runs at Curve until Saturday 8 November

© Paul Towers 21/10/2014