Abigail's Party

When Abigail’s Party first appeared in 1977, it was quickly hailed as one of the most influential British plays of the decade. Mike Leigh’s satirical comedy drama was praised for its subtle commentary on British society, but since the original cast took to the stage, there have been no successful revivals. It is very much a comedy of its time and difficult to pull off, especially with a young cast and the Edinburgh University Theatre Company just doesn’t hit the mark.

The set is striking and the performances given by Bella Rowe and Christina Logue as Beverly and Angela are to be congratulated. Rowe's synthetic attitude for Beverley is spot-on and Logue's inane and rambling Angela provide the highlight of the production. The performance is hilarious and Logue is certainly a great comedy actress in the making. But these are perhaps the only redeeming features.

Although youth is not always an obstacle when portraying older characters, here the cast failed to recreate the tensions that have built up over years of unhappy marriage in Leigh's middle-aged characters. Shaunie Brett’s Susan is particularly guilty of this and her uneasy performance conveys none of the subtle upper-class conceit that it should. The performances given by Fred Gordon and Tom Shah as Laurence and Tony are uneven, immature and over-acted. Gordon fails to create a gradual pressure increase in Laurence's stress levels and the sudden eruption of hysterical yelling that comes instead doesn't feel natural.

Ultimately failing to involve its audience in the stresses and tensions of the character's ragged relationships, this production grasps at the subtleties of a modern classic – but finds them to be just out of reach.