Abigail's Party: Was Beverly the Original Influencer?!
Published on 20 August 2026
Summary
- Nearly 50 years on, Beverly is still serving hostess-from-hell energy
- Come for the Bacardi, stay for the British cringe, one-upmanship and glorious chaos
- See why the “done thing” has moved from the gaudy living room to the Instagram grid
“Who’s for another drink?... Fantastic drink, Bacardi... Just to settle your nerves, Sue.”
I went into Abigail’s Party at the Harold Pinter Theatre knowing the reputation, the catchphrases and, obviously, the cultural legacy, but I’d never actually watched the original 1977 Play for Today. So, for me, this was my first proper encounter with Mike Leigh’s seminal creation, and I thought it was an absolute scream.
Being top-notch character comedy, it’s safe to say that Abigail’s Party walked so Julia Davis’s Nighty Night, Gavin & Stacey, The Office and Amandaland could run. It’s that perfect combination of painfully awkward social observation, deeply British one-upmanship and characters who make you laugh while simultaneously making you want to crawl under the sofa. And surely Nighty Night's Jill Tyrrell has got to be Beverly-coded?
Everyone is always talking about Alison Steadman’s iconic Beverly, and rightly so, she massively shaped the role through improv when she originated it but Tamzin Outhwaite is absolutely sensational. Beverly is acidic, terrifyingly confident and completely magnetic. Kevin Bishop’s Laurence is the increasingly frazzled husband desperately trying to preserve some dignity as Beverly steamrollers the room. Lauren Patel’s Angela is gloriously enthusiastic and oblivious, Omar Malik’s Tony barely needs to say a word to be funny, while Pandora Colin’s Sue is the relatable outsider slowly realising she has made a terrible mistake by coming to this party.
The 70s setting is another reason it works so brilliantly. Nostalgia is everywhere at the moment, but you don’t need to have been alive in the seventies to recognise this world. It’s the memory of your parents at parties, adults drinking until they’re merrily unhinged, or, in my case, being dragged to the local and spending your entire childhood under a pub table, or left at home ringing around to work out which pub Mum and Dad had migrated to next!! Basically, British drinking culture has never felt so relatable. By the interval, I was gagging for a Bacardi and Coke.
Then there’s the décor. The clashing floral wallpaper and curtains, the G-plan furniture, the drinks cabinet groaning with glassware and the collection of decorative knick-knacks. It’s so gloriously, aggressively 70s that Beverly’s orange dress practically becomes part of the scenery. I genuinely wish I’d worn my own gaudy 70s print dress (all clashing colours and jazzy geometric shapes) so I could have simply merged into the wallpaper. My husband calls it my ‘migraine dress’; frankly, at the Harold Pinter, it would have been camouflage.
And that’s the thing: Beverly is funny in spite of all the 70s trappings, not because of them. Take away the blue eyeshadow, the massive hair and that glorious billowing orange dress, which gives her the wingspan of a very glamorous, very hostile tropical bird, and you’re still left with a woman we all recognise. The social climbing, the one-upmanship, the desperately aspirational hosting, the need to have the nicest house, the best taste and, above all, to be seen as the person who has it all together.
Mike Leigh himself described the play as being about “the done thing”, essentially, keeping up with the Joneses, and nearly 50 years on, that feels as relevant as ever. The fibre-optic lamp has simply been swapped for a Bali wellness retreat, the bookshelf of Shakespeare and Dickens for a Korean glass skincare haul, and the thick shag-piled living room for the Instagram grid. The wallpaper might have dated. Beverly absolutely hasn’t.
Abigail’s Party plays at the Harold Pinter Theatre until 19th September 2026 - it’s the perfect late-summer soirée. Book your tickets, go in completely fresh and just enjoy the glorious chaos. “Another drink? Ice and lemon? Take a seat!”
P.S. who else would LOVE to see Tamzin Outhwaite’s Beverly on Come Dine With Me. She’d absolutely wipe the floor with the competition. “What a sad little life, Jane” wouldn’t stand a chance!
By Hay Brunsdon
I've over 15 years of writing and editorial experience, and starting working in the West End theatre industry in 2012. When not watching or writing about theatre I'm usually swimming, hiking, running, or training for triathlons in the Stroud valleys.