Billed as “another bloody serious comedy from Birds of Paradise”, Dont.Make.Tea. is a clever and twisted piece that defies description as a whole.
Written by Rob Drummond and directed by Robert Softley Gale, it heads in a direction you will never predict and which works brilliantly.
Chris (Gillian Dean) has a degenerative condition, which means she is going blind and losing her mobility while dealing with constant, chronic pain.
We watch her from prepping herself for the assessment through to her final piece of decision-making, handling both the amusement and personal injustice of the play.
She is being assessed for her disability benefits under a new system, WorkPay, in a near future that promises a “fully accessible Britain.” Like our present PIP, it discards facts for feelings.
The technical innovations presented also act as assistance aids for those who need them in the audience – a cheery audio describer, a TV-based BSL signer (Emery Hunter), and speech-to-text captions.
These are truly integrated into Don’t.Make.Tea., adding a touch of humour, and become even more in act two, when a catastrophic event leads Chris into hallucinations and desperate measures.
The assessor, Ralph (Neil John Gibson), is sunny-spirited but totally clueless with his by-the-numbers questionnaire and unfair point scoring. He’s gleefully happy to be giving everyone a job opportunity.
Assessing capability, not condition, the system ignores medical records in favour of spurious abilities, often wilfully misunderstanding and sometimes downright degrading.
The first act is mainly the assessment, as we get to know Chris and her circumstances. Her virtual assistant, Able (Richard Conlon) over-comments and over-shares, and as he is government-issued, his presence has a slightly sinister note.
In a detailed and surprising set by Kenneth Macleod, supported by intriguing lighting by Grant Anderson, Don’t.Make.Tea. balances the real and the fantastic, the cheer with the desperate.
As the play unfolds, we are invited to think about our own perceptions of disability, assistance, dependability, and state support. As Chris states at one point, “the question is what to do with disabled people”.
A former police detective, she misses the buzz of working but years of chronic pain and declining eyesight have left her relying on the kindness of neighbours, her home tech, and the benefits which have been frozen pending her assessment.
To say more about the twists and turns of Don’t.Make.Tea. would do it a disservice. Suffice to say, Drummond and his team have ensured a serious subject is explored in a very left-field and entertaining way, which makes you laugh and makes you think.
The introduction of a new character in act two (played by Nicola Chegwin) didn’t quite work for me but adds yet another layer to the topic of disability benefit assessments while riffing on a farcical theme.
Birds of Paradise are a company celebrating their 30th anniversary and in Don’t.Make.Tea. they present a Kafkaesque yet accurate and honest focus on the plight of those who need state assistance.
Don’t.Make.Tea. is currently at Soho Theatre as part of a wider tour – tickets here for all venues. It is to be applauded for its level of accessibility and utilisation of disabled actors in key roles.
****
Image credit: Andy Catlin (from previous production at Traverse, 2022)