“Has any actor, especially a glamorous former ‘EastEnders’ star, embraced the grotesque on stage as admirably and wholeheartedly as Tamzin Outhwaite,” asked Nick Curtis in The London Standard. Following her “utterly un-vain” performance as Kath in “Entertaining Mr Sloane”, Outhwaite now reprises her “monstrous” turn as Beverly, the “egomaniac” hostess from hell in Mike Leigh’s 1977 comedy “Abigail’s Party”.
“In a diaphanous orange frock and ratted Farrah Fawcett wig”, she gives a “tour de force” star turn in Nadia Fall’s assured revival: “every gesture, every wag of her sandalled ankle, reeks of self-satisfaction and command”, even as her drinks party descends into chaos. And there’s fine support from Kevin Bishop, deploying a roster of “sitcom harrumphs and double-takes” as Beverly’s “pretentious, prating” husband, Laurence.
“Revitalised by a crack cast, this is a party you won’t want to miss,” agreed Kirsten Grant in The Telegraph. Casting two Asian actors in the roles of new neighbours Angela and Tony adds edge to certain lines about the local area (in suburban Essex) going downhill. Lauren Patel is “deliciously tactless” as the prattling Angela. As the taciturn Tony, Omar Malik winces with “embarrassment and pent-up frustration”.
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And Pandora Colin is “superlative” as Sue, said Fiona Mountford in The i Paper. A divorcée whose teenage daughter, Abigail, is holding her own party a few doors down, she’s an “unassuming woman who would just like some proper dinner”.
“Abigail’s Party” has often been accused of snobbily punching down on the aspiring working classes, said Clive Davis in The Times. In fact, like “The Diary of a Nobody” – of which Mike Leigh is a huge fan – the play is a brilliant study in “how we construct facades”.
The only flaw in this show, said Arifa Akbar in The Guardian, is that the darkness of the ending does not quite land. The play has all been so enjoyably comical that the switch to tragedy leaves Beverly “speechless and at sea, for once”. Otherwise, Fall’s production “proves that this period comedy of manners is eternally resonant”.
Harold Pinter Theatre, London SW1. Until 19 September.
