Mike Leigh's play introduces us to Beverley, frightfully middle-class, mad about Demis Roussos and a terrible flirt; her hen-pecked estate agent husband Laurence, who would rather live in classical quiet; and their neighbours, Angela, a mousy nurse, and Tony, a dour man who seems receptive to Beverley's charms; and Sue, mother of the never-seen Abigail, who is round at Beverley and Laurence's because her daughter is having a party.
What starts as a friendly soiree quickly declines into a free-for-all where music and alcohol combine to loosen inhibitions and start tempers fraying - and eventually reaches a point where, instead of simply being horrified (in a pleasureable way) by the terrible music, the cheese fondue, the awful fashions - we are shocked out of our complacency as viewers. The ending is as bleak as any kitchen-sink drama you'll see.
The series Play for Today, of which Abigail's Party was just one entry in many that year, is slowly being forgotten because of a lack of home videos or television repeats. Therefore the entries everyone remembers (because of familiarity) might not necessarily be the best. Having said this, Abigail's Party launched both Mike Leigh as a writer/director (albeit one who favoured improvision) and his then-wife Alison Steadman as a performer on television. The fact that both are still contributing to that medium has to say something about the quality of the material on which they first collaborated.
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