It’s all gone a bit Abigail’s party..
Join us for an evening immersed in the 1970’s as we screen Abigail’s Party while we sip on drinks, and wear the clothes, hair and make up just like they do in the 1977 play. Like Beverly's neckline, plunge with us into the authentic atmosphere, and mingle in your halter-neck dress or homemade kaftan*.
Mike Leigh's acclaimed play, first performed at Hampstead Theatre and screened on the BBC 's Play for Today in 1977, is an important piece of TV and theatre archive and we are delighted to be showing it 2023!
We will be recreating a totally authentic 1970’s atmosphere, serving the same canapés and drinks as in the eponymous party, while we laugh along to the excruciatingly brilliant Alison Steadman and the entire cast of wonderful actors. Abigail's Party is a tragi-comic reflection of class and relationships, which still hits a nerve today. It's about aspiration and materialism, and how we present ourselves to the outside world and how we are perceived. Indeed nothing much has changed - the pretence of living a perfect lifestyle on Instagram is our current decade's version of Beverly in her scalloped dress at the party in 1977. Abigail's Party was more than a fiesta of naff and a hilarious opportunity to worship at the temple of tack. It was the most prescient dramatic warning of the Thatcherism to come, of the greed that would be good for two decades, of the elevation of objects and ownership beyond the value of community.
Of course, no one actually talks about politics at all in Abigail's Party. Which is the point really. Abigail's Party described in savage detail the ingredients for the banquet of selfishness that was to dominate the Tory party over the next 25 years. The big recipe in the play is not for pilchard curry, it is for the triumph of material aspiration and lack of any identity for people outside the realisation of their own desires. Fortunately, before we all drown under the weight of arguments about its potential significance, Abigail's Party is also incredibly funny!!
After the screening it's live music and disco time! From Donna Summer to Demis Roussos and other chart hits of the decade, we will get up in our fabulous outfits and sparkling heels, and get down until late! Live music from Medusa Has Been and a cookery demonstration by the Fanny Craddocks!
With thanks to Mike Leigh, the BBC and the BFI for allowing us to screen this fantastic study of society and manners, we believe it will never grow old, and it will always remain acutely relevant.
Discount tickets available for Equity/Actors Guild and Musicians Union, please bring proof of status on the night.
See you there!
*For the keen crafters we are hosting a make your own kaftan workshop on Saturday 16th with Sonja Harms. We will have a couple of expert seamstresses to assist us. Just bring some material, cotton (and a sewing machine if you have one), we will provide the know how, the patterns and maybe even a Babycham and a slice of cake! Beginners welcome!