2025

ABIGAIL’S PARTY - ROYAL EXCHANGE THEATRE

Close

WRITTEN BY MIKE LEIGH

DIRECTOR: NATALIE ABRAHAMI

SET DESIGN: PETER BUTLER
COSTUME DESIGN: PETER BUTLER
LIGHTING: JAI MORJARIA
SOUND: MELANIE WILSON
MOVEMENT: ANNA MORRISEY

PRODUCED BY THE ROYAL EXCHANGE THEATRE

SCENIC CONSTRUCTION: SPLINTER

IMAGES: JOHAN PERSSON

At the height of 1970s suburbia, social class and ambition, Beverly Moss, the Hostess with the Mostess, is inviting you to her cocktail party. The latest tracks are on the record player, the drinks are flowing and there’s even a bowl of olives – although it seems that only Laurence likes those. As the night moves on and the party gets thick with sexual tension, Beverly’s exclusive gathering quickly descends into chaos.

- Manchester Evening News
- The Arts Shelf - The Stage - The Guardian
- WhatsOnStage

““Director Natalie Abrahami and set designer Peter Butler do a great job of ensuring the audience are like flies on the wall glued to every awkward move by the party guests. Staged in the round there is literally nowhere to hide as the drinks flow and this car crash of a party implodes. The ’70s house is replete with shagpile rugs and G plan furniture, a real leather three-piece suite and a silver plated candelabra. In a house without walls, the facade of social niceties is stripped away and casual violence, bitter sniping and undignified vomiting are all vividly on show.”
- Amanda Donlop, WhatsOnStage

Peter Butler’s authentically tasteless middle-class 1970s domestic setting, giving audiences what feel like ringside seats to the unfolding action. The set seems a bit overstuffed at first, as a parade of drinks and bottles are poured, clinked and spilt. But by cramming in hosts Beverly and her husband Laurence’s lounge, downstairs loo and kitchen with working sink and fridge into such a confined area, Butler creates a suitably cramped space for the characters to interact and mingle uncomfortably close to each other.
- Chris bartlett, The Stage