Review: ABIGAIL’S PARTY, Royal Exchange
Photo credit: Johan Persson
Mike Leigh’s popular play Abigail’s Party takes the stage in a new production at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre. Despite first being performed in 1977, the play still feels completely up to date with a group of characters who could genuinely be having a gathering on your street. This relatability is only enhanced by director Natalie Abrahami’s decision to relocate the piece to be set in the North West, somewhere not too far from the Royal Exchange.
Abrahami’s production of Abigail’s Party is fantastic. She leads her cast in creating characters that feel completely human, whilst finding just the perfect number of comedic moments. Despite not very much actually happening in the play beyond a series of conversations between the neighbours who have gathered at Beverly’s house, the audience remain enthralled. Beverly enjoys hearing people gossip and perhaps we’re not all that different.
Peter Butler’s set design grounds the piece in a sense of reality. Despite being a little more stripped back and abstract in some elements, it still captures the idea that the characters are in someone’s real house on someone’s real street. The whole stage revolves as different records are played but it’s not clear why this is, other than to give audience members different views as the show is performed in the round. Butler’s costumes find a perfect balance between grounding the show in the 1970s, enhanced by the song choices, whilst not making the play feel like a period piece, hence it still feeling relevant to our modern world.
Kym Marsh, best known for being a member of Hear’Say, who has since moved into an acting career, headlines the production as Beverly and rightfully so as she gives a sensational performance. She completely captures the essence of a woman who just wants to be liked by everyone. With a huge amount of energy, Marsh demonstrates impeccable comic timing throughout and builds strong rapport with her fellow cast members.
Yasmin Taheri is a joy to watch opposite Marsh as Angela, also capturing a similar essence of someone who just wants to fit in and be liked, in her case, as she’s just moved into the area. The contrast between her and Kyle Rowe as husband Tony creates opportunities for plenty of comedy. Rowe is very funny as the matter-of-fact Tony, not saying much and simply saying how things really are. Meanwhile, when he returns from going out for a while, he portrays the emotional shift very well. Whilst we never know exactly what he has done, he shows the regret for something he’s done behind his eyes very well.
Graeme Hawley gives a strong performance as Beverly’s husband, Laurence. He brings to life the man with old fashioned ideas (or at least ideas that seem old fashioned today) very well. The choice to cast Tupele Dorgu, a woman of colour, as Susan who gets the brunt of Laurence’s comments about the people of the area in which they live ‘changing’ makes these moments hit harder. Laurence is so fixed in his ways and beliefs that he’ll share them with anyone who’ll listen, not even considering who he might be speaking to. Dorgu is excellent as Susan, the woman whose mind is always a bit preoccupied as her daughter, Abigail, is holding a party down the road. She brings to life the introvert who has come to the party to show but would rather be elsewhere perfectly. Whilst she comes across in her behaviour as more conservative, we later learn that her views are clearly more open and progressive – the play makes the point that we shouldn’t jump to conclusions about who people are based on how they behave, and vice versa.
This production of Abigail’s Party is an engaging two hours at the theatre, feeling just as relevant now as it would have been in the 1970s. With a talented cast and located in this unique, in-the-round venue that works perfectly for a show exploring people their psyches, this is a production well worth seeing.
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: Jacob Bush
Abigail’s Party plays at Manchester’s Royal Exchange until 24 May, with further info here.