A little top-up, Ange?

A LITTLE cheesy-pineapple one, Tone?", "Fantastic drink, Bacardi, knockout" and "D'you know what I mean?" Those lines have entered our collective consciousness in the 25 years since Mike Leigh wrote Abigail's Party. Not bad for a play that was originally performed in a short run at the tiny Hampstead Theatre in 1977 and never transferred to the West End.

It didn't transfer because Alison Steadman, who played the central character, Beverly, was pregnant. But a BBC Play for Today slot became available at the last minute and the cast of five filmed Abigail's Party.

It was a repeat showing on BBC1 in October 1979 that clinched it; there was something highbrow on BBC2, ITV was on strike, Channel 4 didn't exist yet and a huge storm over much of the country kept people at home. Abigail's Party was watched by a staggering 16 million people - by far the highest viewing figure ever for a TV play.

Now it is the valedictory production as Hampstead Theatre prepares to shut up shop before moving to spanking new premises 50 metres down the road early next year.

Hampstead's artistic director Jenny Topper explains: "It's a very good play that has become totally identified with the theatre, and we wanted to go out with something celebratory - something that would remind us all not just how good the plays here have been, but how much pleasure audiences have got from them.

"The action is set in Beverly and Laurence's ghastly suburban home, complete with drinks cabinet, ugly reproduction furniture, Demis Roussos LP and candelabra. She is man-hungry and bullying, he is a pretentious estate agent, and they invite neighbours - frumpy Angela and monosyllabic Tony, plus woefully out-of-place middleclass Susan, mother of the eponymous Abigail - to a drinks party.

That the play is so rooted in our psyche has much to do with the towering performance Alison Steadman gave as the vulgarian Beverly: " Beaujolais?

Lovely. I'll put in the fridge, OK?" Elizabeth Berrington, who plays her in the current production (directed by David Grindley), has a tough act to follow.

"When you're offered a role that has been done so brilliantly by someone - and Alison's interpretation is untouchable - you have to be flattered that you've been asked," says Berrington who, at 32, is too young to have seen the original production on stage (nor has she watched the video). "But you do your homework, trust your director and use a wonderful script to create an inner world for the character."

Berrington has worked with Leigh previously on his films Naked (1993) and Secrets and Lies (1996), and he has taken some interest in this production.

"He was involved in the casting," Berrington says, "and has been to some rehearsals to make suggestions.

He's very proud of the play."

Braving the reputation the 1970s have as an almost taste-free zone, designer Jonathan Fensom has devised a new set and costumes, no doubt helped by the fact that the decade is now retro-hip. "Don't expect anything you've seen before," says Topper. "We've completely rethought its look."

For her part, Berrington, while making the role her own, will be playing Beverly in the way we know (and secretly love) her - as an utter fright.

"It's great to be able to be rude and behave disgracefully all night," Berrington says. "She's an outrageous flirt, a horrible drunk and a nasty little cow. I really like her."

Abigail's Party is now previewing at Hampstead Theatre, NW3 (020 7722 9301), and runs until 14 September.

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