I’m a huge Abba fan - I couldn’t shout it from the rooftops back in the second half of the 1970s, when they were at the height of their popularity and I was at school. It wasn’t cool. I risked being bullied and worse. 

I had one friend at school who was an Abba fan. We travelled together to Wembley Arena in November 1979 to watch our heroes.

During the ‘80s and ‘90s, after Abba had gone their own ways, I continued to follow everything they did; the solo projects and the musical Chess. 

Then, slowly, Abba started to become respected, universally. 

The films Murial’s Wedding and Priscilla Queen of the Desert started the ball rolling and the gay community continued to drive things forward until Mamma Mia! took it to another level and here we are today.

On Sunday, I’ll be at the first anniversary of Abba Voyage, the virtual reality Abba concert in east London. It’ll be my sixth visit. 

I was there at the premiere, when the real Abba took a bow and I’m told Benny, Bjorn and Frida will be there this week, to take another bow. It’s as if my life has come full circle.

This week renowned writer and actor Ian Hallard and his husband Mark Gatiss (multi award-winning director and writer), brought their brilliant play ‘The Way Old Friends Do’ to the Lowry Theatre in Salford. 

It’s a homage to Abba fandom, but it’s much more than that, it’s an hilarious story of love and friendship, acted brilliantly and peppered by brief snatches of some of the Abba classics. 

Hallard’s love for Abba comes through in every nook and cranny of this brilliant show.

The Way Old Friends Do is the title of a lesser known Abba song, which was first performed on their 1979 tour, during the encore. 

The song starts with these words ‘You and I can share the silence, finding comfort together, the way old friends do. And after fights and words of violence, we make up with each other, the way old friends do. Times of joy and times of sorrow, we will always see it through. I don’t care what comes tomorrow, we can face it together, the way old friends do.’

I was constantly told, at school, that Abba were bubblegum pop. Bubblegum lasts minutes, their music has survived decades, so far, and those words, which also closed the play, will surely be true forever. 

Go and see The Way Old Friends Do at the Lowry, if you can and celebrate Abba, love and friendship! It runs until May 27. 

 review by Ian Cheeseman