Abigail’s Party

Southwick Players present Mike Leigh’s classic Tragi-Comedy at The Barn Theatre from the 10-13th of December.

Join us for a night of laughs, gasps and seventies nostalgia as Beverly and Laurence Moss host a house party with disastrous consequences.

A comedy of manners, and a scathing satire on the aspirations and tastes of the new middle class that emerged in Britain in the 1970s.
Suburbia gets to reveal its darker side throughout an increasingly uncomfortable drinks party...

Queen of the castle in her suburban semi, Beverley is hosting, alcohol is flowing, music is on cassette deck, and the cheese and pineapple cocktail sticks are ready to go. Along with her overworked husband Laurence, she welcomes new neighbours Angela and Tony round for drinks. Long-established resident Sue is invited too, but the real party is happening back at her place, as Sue’s teenage daughter Abigail can’t seem to keep the racket down. Awkward small talk quickly descends into inappropriate flirtation and marital disputes, and worse: a soiree from hell, but it’d be rude to leave.

This tragicomic portrait of social class, materialism, and sexual tension in 1977 is an unmissable modern classic.