Abigail brings down curtain on the party in Hampstead

Twenty-five years have passed since Beverly, the anti-heroine of Abigail's Party, first demonstrated her social sophistication to her dinner party guests by offering to pop their bottle of red wine in the fridge.

A social climber like Mike Leigh's creation, a part taken by the playwright's wife, Alison Steadman, might not have thought much of the venue where Leigh's play saw the light of the day.

But the Hampstead Theatre, a tiny prefabricated hut in north London expected to survive for only a decade when it opened in 1959, is still going strong. So much so that it is about to move to a £15.6m venue 50 metres away that will become the first new, stand-alone theatre to be built in London since the National opened in 1976.

To mark the venue's closure, the theatre is reviving its most famous production for a valedictory two-month run. Jenny Topper, the theatre's artistic director, said they wanted the final play of the final season in the old building to connect the past with the future.

"We went through a great stock of wonderful plays that have been produced at Hampstead over the years to decide what to finish on," she said.

"We knew we should finish with a play from the past to provide a bridge into the future. Having agonised we realised that, of course, Abigail's Party was the play that the whole of the country knows about even if they don't go to the theatre, because of the famous television production."

Abigail's Party was developed at the theatre by the director and writer Mike Leigh through his usual techniques of improvisation. Its focal point was Beverly as she orchestrates an excruciatingly naff get-together with her husband and neighbours.

The play went on to become a cult classic – and a television film – which now appears remarkably prescient in exposing the materialism with which Thatcherite Britain was shortly to become associated.

Miss Topper said she had seen it in 1977 and remembered it as "very funny and a blistering dissection of individuals". Now, re-reading it with staff who were too young to have witnessed it then, she thought it seemed prophetic – as well as poignant.

Abigail's Party, which opens in preview on 10 July, will close on 24 September, 43 years to the day after the Hampstead Theatre opened under the artistic directorship of James Roose-Evans.

Miss Topper said: "Now we're so close, we all feel desperately sad about leaving. It has a history that somehow or other we'll have to box up and take across with the files." The list of those who worked at the Hampstead Theatre in its formative years is the list of the key figures involved in the renaissance of British theatre in the Sixties.

Harold Pinter wrote for it, Ian McKellan, Alec McCowan and Edward Fox acted in it and Kenneth Tynan reviewed it.

While Abigail's Party may be its most famous hit, the theatre has subsequently attracted both new and established writers and actors and become well-known for innovative new productions, many of which transfer to other theatres in London or the regions.

Ewan McGregor was directed by his uncle, the actor Denis Lawson. Jane Horrocks, Rufus Sewell, Jude Law, Helen Baxendale and Zoe Wanamaker have all appeared on stage.

There have been 21 West End transfers and two Broadway transfers in the 13 years since Jenny Topper arrived.

But the cramped conditions for the public, staff and performers alike have often made it an uncomfortable venue and when the local council made clear its licence could not be renewed beyond 2003, an appeal to fund an alternative building was launched.

More than 2,000 people have contributed to the appeal including McGregor, Prunella Scales, Alan Ayckbourn and Kathy Burke, who have all "bought" a seat. Construction began in October 2000 and the new venue, complete with a more adaptable stage area and an education studio, will open in January.

Miss Topper will stand down in the summer, leaving the new building in the hands of a new artistic director, Anthony Clark.

Hampstead Theatre transfer triumphs

1994 Dead Funny by Terry Johnson. World première about Benny Hill and other comedy veterans. Starred Zoe Wanamaker, transferred to the Vaudeville Theatre and won awards including best new play from the Critics' Circle and best supporting actor for Niall Buggy at the Oliviers.

1992 Someone Who'll Watch Over Me by Frank McGuinness. World première starring Stephen Rea who, like McGuinness, was nominated for a Tony. Transferred to Vaudeville Theatre and then New York's Broadway

1990 Burn This by Lanford Wilson. British première starring John Malkovich, who won a Time Out theatre award for his performance, and Juliet Stevenson. Transferred to the Lyric Theatre

1987 Separation by Tom Kempinski. World première with Saskia Reeves and David Suchet. Transferred to Comedy Theatre