Abigail’s Party is coming to Northern Stage between 13 – 28 September so we caught up with Director Jack Bradfield and Designer Anna Yates, to discuss their thoughts about the show!
Can you give us a summary of the play?
Jack: The play is called Abigail’s Party and people often think it’s a play about Abigail, but Abigail is a teenager who’s having a party next door and we are not invited. Instead, we’re at Beverley’s house, who fancies herself the queen of suburbia. She gets together a little do, which becomes an increasingly horrible awkward nightmarish cocktail night. It’s really funny, it’s really outrageous, it’s really risky and close to the bone, and underneath all of that, there is a dark psychological element that we’re really excited to bring up to the surface.
What drew you to Abigail’s Party?
Jack: I think it’s one of the funniest plays I’ve ever read, it’s really cutting, it’s really quite risky, it’s really outrageous. I was drawn to it partly because I think as a director, there’s a lot of comedies, and British comedies, that we stage in quite conventional ways. And you’re allowed to, with a Shakespeare, or with an Arthur Miller, or a play like that, really explore it and look at it from new angles. I felt like with traditional staging comedies, we weren’t allowed to do that for some reason, and it felt like an opportunity to really rediscover this play, which I think is so brilliant.
What are you looking forward to about Abigail’s Party?
Anna: I really love Mike Leigh’s writing in how it observes banality of normal conversation and how hilarious and uncomfortable that can be. That’s what I really wanted to be a part of in this show.
Jack: I came to Mike Leigh much the same way. I’ve seen lots of Mike Leigh movies, I’ve loved his work. And then more recently, I discovered all the work he wrote for theatre and this play just felt like the perfect fit.
How will this show look and feel on stage?
Anna: Beverley, the main character, is obsessed with having created this model home. It’s the dream of suburban bliss and so we want to enhance that feeling of her whole interior being on show. We want to create the sort of sexy 70s glam, but also have the feeling that it’s not quite successful – because it is the UK in the 70s – so it’s slightly off. That’s the general vibe we’re trying to get with this show.
Jack: We found out that when Mike Leigh was making the show, he took the actors in character to the Ideal Home show in Kensington. We got very obsessed with that and started thinking about showrooms and showing off what you’ve got. So that’s probably at the heart of the design and feel of the show.
What would you serve at your own 70s soiree?
Jack: There are these horrible YouTube videos of people putting salads in jelly and it’s so disgusting. I think it would be so funny, like full cucumber, lettuce, tomato salads in gelatine. That’s what I’d like to offer.
Anna: I’m really into the pineapple sticks in the shape of a hedgehog.
Who would be your dream dinner party guest?
Anna: Mine’s George Eliot, which is not that fun.
Jack: Such a good pick though, she’d be amazing, such a good talker and raconteur.
Anna: I feel like she’d give me all the best advice on how to live my life.
Jack: I’d say… I’m trying to think of someone that’d be really exciting and scandalous. I think Oscar Wilde would be brilliant, although maybe quite mean, but I’d like that. I’d like the whole party to be deconstructed by Oscar Wilde and for us all to be told how superficial we are. That’d be great.
Is there a moment you can’t wait for audiences to see?
Jack: There is an outrageous dance number that should be so horrible and awkward that you will have to watch it behind your hands, and I can’t wait for audiences to try and watch that.
No one can stop talking about Abigail’s party. No one can stop thinking about Abigail’s party.
Something must be done about Abigail’s party.
Welcome to Mike Leigh’s cult-classic comedy – prepare to see it like never before.
This is the party to end all parties, and you’re all invited. Please RSVP.
Book your tickets for Abigail’s Party at Northern Stage now.