Tell us about your show, Don’t. Make. Tea.
A dark comedy thriller, Don’t. Make. Tea. is a witty ridiculing of the welfare state.
Imagine a near future benefits regime as seen through the assessment of Chris, a disabled woman who is forced to claim benefits. With bitingly satirical dialogue and cutting-edge accessible staging interwoven through the show, Don’t. Make. Tea. confronts the lengths disabled people must go to in order to preserve themselves.
It’s a satirical take on an unjust system set in a future that tells us plenty about where we are now.
What inspired the show?
Over the last ten years, we’ve been making theatre at BOP that appeals to wide audiences and tells the stories of disabled people in a variety of ways – often with a bravado and a sense of humour. We wanted to stage a production that spoke directly to disabled people, so we thought it’d be the right time to tackle head-on the disability benefits system.
We were delighted that Rob Drummond was willing to collaborate so closely on developing the script in a way that included the direct involvement of disabled people with experience of the current UK system.
What made you want to use a dark comedy show to examine the welfare state?
We might make you laugh but we don’t shy away from the big issues that disabled people face and way that we treat disabled people in our society is nothing to laugh about. Decades of underfunding and cuts have made our lives incredibly difficult. The only thing that theatre can offer is different ways of looking at a situation.
We all know that the benefits system doesn’t work, but by using dark comedy we can take things to an extreme place – in this case an imagined near future – and push the debate and issues to the fore. This won’t answer every question but hopefully we can start to ask big questions and expose the horrendous experiences of some people.
What was your process like in finding the humour in such serious topics?
That was mainly the writer – Rob Drummond’s – job, and he’s done it so well. Rob started by interviewing people who have experienced assessments which sadly brought up lots of grim stories with humour to mine. We had a number of development weeks when we worked with actors to bring the script to life.
This gave us the opportunity to find even more laughs within the script and to explore some of the more outrageous questions that we ask in the show, such as ‘How to solve a problem like the disableds?’.
Rob worked closely with us on building access into the show, such as audio description and BSL, and we’ve found lots of humour within this.
How do you think humour can be utilised to make societal issues accessible for discussion?
Humour makes big, difficult and messy issues more accessible to more people. When we come together to laugh about something, we find common ground and that’s a key to finding the way forward. I’m not saying that comedy solves everything – of course it doesn’t – but it is a useful tool. Humour can also dispel discomfort and oftentimes BOP’s work does expose societal issues that are not that comfortable to examine.
What do you think is the secret to good satire?
That it makes you laugh and think at the same time by exposing those uncomfortable truths.
I don’t know if there is a secret actually – I think there is just so much to mine around how disabled people are treated and viewed that we have plenty of source material to work with! We also get away with saying things on stage that other people and certainly non-disabled led companies could not. We have a degree of licence and we push that as far as we can.
How are you feeling about the upcoming tour for this show?
We are excited to be getting out to audiences across the country, back to partners like Soho Theatre in London and venues we have not visited before like Ffwrnes in Wales.
BOP’s reputation over the past ten years has grown considerably and we’re known to a greater extent throughout the UK so we’re really looking forward to meeting our new supporters and our old friends,
What are your hopes for the show going forward?
The only real hope that you can have is that a show has an impact and people engage with it. If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that you never know what’s coming next!
We are delighted that the script will be published – perhaps there is a future for Don’t.Make.Tea. that is for others to study and explore and give it a wider impact in the world.
What do you hope people take away from the show?
As with all our work we hope people leave feeling more engaged with the nuance of what it’s like living as a disabled person in today’s society – but we are definitely not just educators – we want people to leave feeling entertained and having had a good laugh!
Do you have any advice for people hoping to create similar shows?
Make sure you are involving people who are affected by the issues you are working with – they will be able to tell you things more outrageous than you could make up!
Take time to think through and build in access – it makes your show more accessible to a wider audience and it makes the show better for everyone.
Speak to people – ask audiences what makes it easier and more enjoyable for them to go to the theatre and then address as many of those concerns as you can while surprising them with a story that they haven’t heard before. Just don’t bore them.
Don’t. Make. Tea is running at the Soho Theatre in London from 26th March until 6th April.
You can keep up with Birds of Paradise Theatre Company by following them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, and checking out their website.
