Playwright: Mike Leigh. At: A Red Orchid Theatre Company, 1531 N. Wells . Phone: 312-943-8722; $15-$30. Runs through: March 28
Mike Leigh is often held up as a critics' darling, but the famed British filmmaker and playwright divides audiences more than winning them over. Leigh isn't afraid to tackle controversial topics, but he's also isn't averse to trying an audience's patience by overemphasizing ugly and mundane aspects of life through his process of building works through improvisation.
Just look at Leigh's seminal 1977 dark comedy Abigail's Party, now receiving a bang-up and superlative production at A Red Orchid Theatre Company. It has a shocking ending, but some will find the lead up to it can be grating and tedious.
Leigh populates Abigail's Party a rather unpleasant cast of suburban characters who blather on and on ( often unwittingly hurling insults along the way ) . Some audiences will be appalled, while other will smirk and revel in Leigh's comedy of bad manners.
I found myself to be in the latter camp thanks to director Shade Murray and his super skilled cast who all apply the right amount of pressure to make this suburban house party the uncomfortable living hell it should be.
The play's title is a tad deceptive, since the loud rock-and-roll party thrown by the unseen 15-year-old Abigail Lawson is actually next door. We're stuck for the evening in the shocking 1970s decorated living room of overworked estate agent Lawrence Moss ( a brusque Larry Grimm ) and his over-pampered wife, Beverly ( Kirsten Fitzgerald, who layers on the faux sophistication like her thick cake makeup ) .
The Mosses have their own party for new-to-the-neighborhood couple Tony ( an appropriately laconic turn by Danny McCarthy ) and Angela ( Mierka Girten, who does a great job of someone oblivious to things that should be self-censored in polite conversation ) . Being the fifth wheel ( and to help differentiate the play from Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ) is Natalie West as Susan. She's hilarious as Abigail's slightly spacey divorced mum.
As Beverly keeps the booze flowing, cracks in each couple's relationship start to show and Susan becomes more and more agitated as the noise from Abigail's party bleeds through the walls.
Beverly fancies herself as a sophisticate thanks to her nouveau riche trappings, but she proves to be more of a poseur. Lawrence actually does have some educated class, but he comes off as insufferable when he tries to show up Beverly with his knowledge.
A Red Orchid's production enormously benefits from Daniel Stratton's overstuffed 1970s set and and Melissa Torchia's loud costumes. The cast and production team all work together to illuminate Leigh's examination of middle-class pretension.
So consider yourself forewarned: Abigail's Party can be lots of fun and games. But remember that Leigh is your host, so expect plenty of insight amid all the insufferably bad behavior.