THERE'S no doubt it's Alison Steadman's Beverly who haunts all versions and thoughts of Abigail's Party, since Mike Leigh's satire burst onto the nation's stage 27 years ago via TV's Play For Today.

The production, originally produced for the stage, quite rightly made a star out of Steadman and the play itself has become a cultural icon, but Steadman's impact has been such that it's difficult to imagine anyone else as the monstrous Beverly.

Yet Lizzy McInnerny succeeds in Malvern, playing the shallow, and insensitive hostess to the hilt, her gradual inebriation beautifully and subtly displayed as the evening descends from the toe-curlingly embarrassing to the downright tragic.

Huw Higginson, Elizabeth Hopley, Steffan Rhodri and Liz Crowther are all equally as good as the rest of the quintet trapped in the social from hell.

This may be a revival but it's firmly set in the 1970s and the dialogue and situations are as relevant today.

As Beverly frantically plies her guests with booze and nibbles, the shallow, social chit chat only reveals how desperately unhappy everybody is.

There's no shortage of laughs - right to the final fatal minutes, but that's the genius of the play. If we didn't laugh at so many things in life, we'd only cry.