ABIGAIL
Directed by Tomas Spencer
As Britain stares into an increasingly uncertain economic future and the affluence-on-credit mentality is revealed as a collective fantasy, it would seem like a good time to revisit an old classic that warned of the emptiness of consumerism over 30 years ago. Mike Leigh's Abigail's Party is an excruciating indictment of the social mores of the emerging middle class and the role that spending money played in the search for status.
Readers: Marianne Graffam, Manon Kahle, Laura Cameron, Tomas Spencer, Jon Blower
Abigail´s Party was originally produced in 1977. The cast was lead by Alison Steadman and Tim Stern. Shortly after an abridged version was produced for BBC-TV which was soon celebrated as one of the highlights of British TV and in 2000 was placed 11th on the British Film Institute´s list of the 100 Greatest British TV programmes.
with Abigail´s Party, ENGLISH THEATRE BERLIN starts a series of readings of old, middle-aged and newer plays that have become classics of the stage but are hardly ever done anymore - for different reasons. Are they worth revisiting? Can there be more than merely historical interest in them? Check it our for yourself!