Tea Time at the Brewery Theatre

I am 4 and my Daddy and me took a trip up to the Tobacco Factory to watch Tea Time,  a short play by Danielle and Jessy aimed at 2 to 6 year olds,  We had fun.  The small theatre at the Brewery Factory was near to its 140 capacity with lots of children around my age and their mummies and daddies.

The set looked like it had been drawn by a child, but in a good way, with wonky cookers and a funny cat.  The 2 actors spent time before the start of the show mingling with the audience and chatting to all us children.  This was fun and I was able to tell Danielle about the pizza I had made the day before.  Daddy liked Danielle too because she was pretty.

Within a minute of the play starting, I was in fits of giggling at Danielle and Jessy being all silly and girly on the stage.  The 2 actors have a funny, childlike way about them as they explain how they were best buddies and they like eating food together.  The humour was great for my age, with a couple gags in there just for the parents to enjoy as well so that they were not left out.

Danielle and Jessy brought lots of laughter as they tried to out do each other with how hungry they were.  Jessy said, “I could eat a swimming pool!”  Then Danielle said, “Yeah, well I could eat a swimming pool and all the armbands!”  Then Jessy said, “Well, I could eat a swimming pool, all the arm bands and all the swimmers!” etc.  They also get around to making some dinner using ingredients from a magic cupboard, then end up making a magnificent castle out of it instead.  My favourite part was with the chocolate mousse (no spoiler), before they have to hunt for the hamburglers who keep stealing the food.

It was total silly nonsense and all the children loved it.  There were songs, jokes, slapstick antics and more silly nonsense, and I really liked the 2 actresses and my Daddy said watching me scream with laughter was priceless.

Daddy said – “I would have liked a bit more audience participation.”  Although the 2 actresses talked to all the children at the start, this level of interaction faded once the show started.  There were plenty of opportunities for the audience to get involved but it wasn’t really explored or exploited – but then again I do love a good pantomime (Oh no I don’t.  Oh yes I do!).  It was a bit like a panto, or Justin’s House on CBeebies, but without the audience participation.  Maybe it was the audience I was with, I don’t know, but I wanted to shout “It’s behind you” and sing along to the songs but nobody else was.  But then I get up and do the dances with Amy when watching Milkshake on Channel 5 in the morning – I just can’t help myself.

All us children watching sat mesmerised for the full 50 minutes of the show and we all cheered at the end.  So if you are looking for some live entertainment and can get your mummy or daddy to the Tobacco Factory in Bristol, it is definitely worth a trip.  Just beware of the hamburglers!

– By Willow Bowen, aged 4

Tea Time is on at Brewery Theatre until Sunday 23rd February