A gloriously British summer afternoon, sipping tea and eating scones; the perfect setting for The Big Bite-Size Vintage Tea Party. With the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee just around the corner, the timing couldn’t be more appropriate for White Room Theatre’s collection of vintage themed short plays. The audience was welcomed by an efficient but friendly ARP Warden and singing Tea Ladies, who looked at home in the bunting clad garden. I felt immediately immersed in ‘vintage’ and my expectations were high. Waving my innovatively designed union jack flag programme, I joined a mixed audience eager to hear tales of yesteryear.
White Room Theatre served up four short plays which were either set in World War Two or were about World War Two. Confident and heart-felt performances were given by three company members, who looked authentic in their beautiful 1940’s costumes. However, I felt that the contrasting styles of the bite size plays had difficulty finding their place in the feel of the piece as a whole. The mixing between the modern day and the 1940’s was interesting and creative, but at times a little disruptive. For example, the use of mp3 players and earphones during the verbatim third play seemed out of place and aesthetically jarring, as the preceding scene was a naturalistic monologue. It was also unclear whether the fourth wall was down or not during the first play, which was surprisingly awkward for such an immediately immersive pierce.
Wearing slippers, the singing Tea Ladies sang between the plays, perking up transitions. This singing was spot on and I would have loved to have heard more. Often the Tea Ladies were singing off-stage or in dim light, which was disappointing and made the bright house lights for the sing-along at the end of the performance a little surprising and uncomfortable. Perhaps a ‘Make Do and Mend’ tactic would work well with the Tea Ladies, integrating them into the plays to create a soundscape for the piece, using their tin cups, spoons and kazoos for home-made sound effects. Technically, this may also solve the problem of the frequently used mediocre sound effects, volume levels and cues. Lighting could have also been improved as often performers were in darkness, or unintentionally projected onto.
Overall, The Big Bite-Size Vintage Tea party is a crowd pleaser with exciting potential, and I look forward to seeing what else White Room Theatre has on the menu for their future productions.
