STAGE: I have beautiful lips

Mike Leigh’s West End hit Abigail’s Party comes to the Theatre Royal Brighton

To have missed out on the legend that is Abigail’s Party one must have been living the life of a hermit since 1977. Back then it hit the small screen in a production that starred Alison Steadmand and Janine Duvitski, more recenty seen as the sexually promiscuous swinging star of TV’s Benidorm. It instantly became a hit, satirising the newly aspirational and upwardly mobile nouveau middle class that emerged at the time.

Now Leigh’s classic comedy comes to the Theatre Royal Brighton, and Hannah Waterman, Martin Marquez, Samuel James, Katie Lightfoot and Emily Raymond star in one of the most popular plays written.

Donna Summer is on the stereo. Cheese and pineapple are on the coffee table and the get-together from hell is about to begin. Beverly, and estate agent husband Laurence, have invited round new neighbours Tony and Ange and nervous divorcee Sue, twitchy about the party her 15-year-old daughter, Abigail, is throwing over the road. As Beverly plies the guests with alcohol, cigarettes, Demis Roussos and nibbles, this horribly compelling evening descends into drunkenness and debauchery. Comedy, drama and tragedy combine into an iconic piece of theatre.

This ruthless and painfully funny observation of the pretensions of suburbia comedy became an instant classic when it first appeared as a BBC Play For Today in 1977, the year of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee.

Mike Leigh is one of Britain’s most influential theatre and film directors. His numerous awards have included Best Comedy award for the stage play Goose Pimples, a BAFTA for Outstanding Contribution to Cinema, National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Film for Life Is Sweet, Best Director Award at Cannes Film Festival for Naked, the Palme d’Or at Cannes for Secrets And Lies and an Oscar for Topsy Turvy.

Lindsay Posner recently directed the all-star revival of Noises Off (tour visits Eastbourne in April) at the Old Vic and Butley, A View from the Bridge and Fiddler on the Roof in the West End and Relatively Speaking on tour and soon to open in the West End.

Theatre Royal Bath Productions are one of the most highly regarded producers of touring and West End productions. Recent productions include: Relatively Speaking starring Felicity Kendall and Kara Tointon, which sold out at theatres across the UK and The Judas Kiss, seen at the Theatre Royal Brighton last season, starring Rupert Everett. Upcoming productions include West End transfers of Relatively Speaking and The Judas Kiss, a West End premier of Quartermaine’s Terms, which premiered at Theatre Royal Brighton, starring Rowan Atkinson.

Theatre Royal Brighton
Monday 1 – Saturday 6 Apr Box office 08448 717 650 www.atgtickets.com/brighton