Abigail’s Party: Tamzin Outhwaite is ‘mesmerising’ as hostess of ‘soiree from hell’

“We all know a Beverley,” said Nancy Durrant in The Times. The “magnificent monster” at the heart of Mike Leigh’s “savage 1970s satire of the aspirational middle classes” has “never gone away”.

More than four decades since Abigail’s Party premiered at Hampstead Theatre, Nadia Fall’s revival of the hit play has opened at Stratford East. Taking on the role of Beverley is a “mesmerising” Tamzin Outhwaite, who is hosting a dinner party alongside her estate agent husband Laurence (Kevin Bishop) to welcome their new “younger, less wealthy” neighbours, Angela and Tony, to the area. Really it’s an opportunity for the older couple to flaunt their bigger house – a “glorious orange riot” designed by Peter McKintosh.