Kirjahaku

Mike Leigh’s 1970s classic play ‘Abigail’s Party’ focuses on an evening of domestic hell in the guise of a suburban drinks soirée. While teenager Abigail parties a few doors away, the pretentious Beverly and her estate agent husband, Laurence, entertain their neighbours – Abigail’s mother, Susan, ex-footballer, Tony, and his wife, Angela. But as the alcohol flows, tensions in the hosts’ barely functional marriage emerge and their obsessions, prejudices and petty competitiveness are ruthlessly, and hilariously, exposed. ‘Goose-Pimples’, meanwhile, is easily as sharp and uncompromising. This time, the action focuses on ambitious casino croupier, Jackie, and Saudi businessman, Muhammad, who meet – and misunderstand – one another spectacularly.

THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF 40TH MIKE LEIGH'S CLASSIC PLAY - WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION FROM THE PLAYWRITE.Forty years on from its first performance at the Hampstead Theatre and original screening on BBC1 soon after, Mike Leigh's Abigail's Party - telling of two marriages spectacularly unravelling at an awkward neighbourhood drinks party - remains a pinnacle of British theatre.Here is the original script, complete with a new introduction by Mike Leigh describing the play's unlikely genesis, how it came to be made and where he believes it fits within his oeuvre as one of the country's leading writers and directors.'The play came from my intuitive sense of the spirit and the flavour of the times, and from a growing personal fear of, and frustration with the suburban existence' Mike Leigh, from his new introduction'Leigh's play isn't simply about marriage and Essex, but also about the unhappy state of the realm' Guardian

British suburbanites Laurence and Beverly are entertaining their new neighbors, Angela and Tony as well as Susan, whose teenage daughter, Abigail is having a party to which Susan has been dis-invited. Over drinks and snacks, cliches and fatuous small talk abound.

A play about loneliness, togetherness, longing, warmth and love, from the author of Abigail's Party. 1979. The winter of discontent is over and Margaret Thatcher's regime is about to transform the country. Old friends come together in a Kilburn bedsit for a drunken celebration of their mutual affection. Mike Leigh's play Ecstasy was first staged at Hampstead Theatre, London, in 1979, with a cast including Julie Walters, Stephen Rea and Jim Broadbent. It was revived at Hampstead Theatre in 2011 in a production directed by Mike Leigh, marking the first time the award-winning author and director returned to one of his past plays.

A black comedy/farce from the acclaimed film-maker and author of Abigail's Party. Returning home unexpectedly from holiday, Rex Weasel, owner of the Vermination Pest Control Company, hides in a wardrobe when he hears intruders. It's his employee Vic Maggot with his wife out on a spree - but they also have to hide when Weasel's gormless son turns up with his garrulous girlfriend. The comedy frantically approaches farce, but the drama is continuously underscored by Leigh's trademark ability to create conversations that are both painful and hilarious in their banal accuracy. Mike Leigh's play Smelling a Rat premiered at Hampstead Theatre, London, in 1988.

Jean works in a garage and consoles herself with drink and perfunctory sex. Jean's insistent neighbour, Dawn, and Dawn's Irish labourer husband, Mick, and Mick's spineless mucker, Len, all join her in a funny, drunken, sad celebration of their mutual affection and bleak lives.