The Party
by Trevor GriffithsDirected by John Dexter
The National Theatre
The Old Vic
First performance 18th December
1973
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'Grease' Ball ... Desmond McNamara
Andrew Ford ... Denis Quilley
Angie Shawcross ... Doran Godwin
Eddie Shawcross ... John Shrapnel
Jeremy Hayes ... Gawn Grainger
Joe Shawcross ... Ronald Pickup
John Tagg ... Laurence Olivier
Kara Massingham ... Gillian Barge
Kate Stead ... Rachel Davies
Louis Preece ... Ram John Holder
Milanka ... Sarah Atkinson
Richard Maine ... Harry Waters
Sloman ... Frank Finlay
Susie Plaistow ... Anna Carteret
The year is 1968; in Paris the student risings are taking place. In the London drawing-room of a successful television producer a group of people meet to discuss the implications for them and their belief in a socialist society and how it can be achieved. The Party, commissioned by the National Theatre opened at the Old Vic on 18th December 1973.
Olivier's Farewell to the Stage.
Laurence Olivier had a long and fruitful relationship with the Old Vic Theatre. He arrived in 1937 as a young actor and would go on to worldwide acclaim and fame, as well as becoming the first artistic director of the National Theatre, whose initial home was The Old Vic.
His last stage performance was as John Tagg in The Party. After the final performance on 21 March 1974, he knelt down and kissed the stage.