Amanda Abbington

Amanda Abbington stars in Mike Leigh’s undisputed classic, Abigail’s Party.

It’s 40 years since the appalling Beverly first put Donna Summer on the turntable, stacked a plate with little cheesy-pineapple sticks, plied her guests with alcohol, cigarettes and Demis Roussos and slow-danced her way across the shag-pile into theatrical history.

The drinks party from hell begins when she and husband Laurence invite round new neighbours, Tony and Ange, along with nervous divorcee Sue; jittery about the bash her teenage daughter, Abigail, is throwing up the road. As that party reportedly gets out of hand, this one too descends into chaos, and comedy, as drama and tragedy combine into an iconic piece of theatre.