After a triumphant West End run, Lindsay Posner’s acclaimed revival of one of the most popular plays ever written is touring the UK, starring Hannah Waterman (EastEnders), Martin Marquez (Hotel Babylon), Samuel James, Katie Lightfoot and Emily Raymond.

Donna Summer is playing on the stereo. Dishes of cheese and pineapple are on the coffee table. The social get-together from hell is about to begin. Beverly and estate agent husband Laurence have invited round new neighbours Tony and Ange and nervous divorcee Sue, twitchy about the party her fifteen-year-old daughter, Abigail, is throwing. As Beverly plies the guests with alcohol, cigarettes, Demis Roussos and nibbles, this horribly compelling evening descends into drunkenness and debauchery.

Mike Leigh’s comedy became a classic when it first appeared as a BBC Play For Today in 1977, the year of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. It is a ruthlessly accurate observation of the pretensions of suburbia, a world obsessed with class and taste.