The bizarre British performance of 2 for Tea at Victoria’s Metro Theatre was a lukewarm cup of disappointment that left me wondering if it could be anyone’s cup of tea at all. To my bewilderment, it had received flattering praise from critics and the audience members surrounding me were laughing at the slapstick humour. Meanwhile, my favourite part of the production was the free tea provided beforehand.
Where I expected intellectual wit and political allusion, there was primitive clowning that had me checking my watch. Where I hoped for intriguing plot, I found a nonsensical storyline suitable for children. And where I hoped for Monty Python, I was disappointed with a swing-and-a-miss at improv audience participation. Perhaps my expectations were too high when I explained to my guests the components of sophisticated British humour prior to the show, because afterward I could do nothing but apologize for the experience.
I am a huge fan of live theatre and supporting local arts, and for that reason I would encourage anyone to go out and see just about anything, but when this production was being billed as “comedy,” I was expecting comedy.
I spent too much time during this production thinking “WTF?” to recommend it. But if you enjoy watching two men with questionable mental stability have tea for an hour, then drink up: you’ll love it. Unless, of course, you were expecting to laugh or be in some way emotionally rewarded.
Finally things began to pick up when some poor, unsuspecting volunteers got pulled from the audience and put on the spot to play characters on stage that ended in them all dead by brutal accidents and cups of tea as the main props.
Despite the terrible writing, the actors, admirably, committed to their roles with consistency. But, in the evening’s theme of “special-tea” jokes that weren’t quite funny, I leave you with the warning that this 2 for Tea had too much “insani-tea” and was “emp-tea” of any valuable “creativi-tea.”
2 for Tea
November 29-30
Metro Theatre, $20
metrostudiotheatre.com