Fringe - Day 1

2 for Tea (Life & Depth)

Take Monty Python and add a dash of Pirandello, and that will give you a rough idea of what you might expect from 2 for Tea at this year's fringe.

The play comes to us from across the pond. Performer/creators James Brown and Jamesy Evans hail from Sussex, but they have been touring North America for the past year. We all enjoy dabbling in British comedy, so it is nice to see an authentic take onstage.

2 for Tea centres on a very simple subject. There is tea ... for two of them. Every week James goes to visit his friend Jamesy for tea. Jamesy is in some way mentally ill, demonstrated by his obsession with routine and general fear of the outside. At the play's beginning we are greeted by the scene of Jamesy setting up the table for tea, adjusting everything millimetre by millimetre until it is just so. There is a long period of silence which Jamesy Evans uses as a sort of movement piece. He carries himself in such an ostentatiously dainty manner that "mince" does not even come close to covering it. This continues through the whole play, with Jamesy moving in very strange and specific ways that almost seems like an alien who is still trying to figure out how the human body works (and he demonstrates hip control that would surely get Shakira's nod of approval). It creates a bizarre scene right off the bat, but his commitment to it is responsible for much of the play's humour.

James, on the other hand, is the more normal of the two. He indulges Jamesy's idiosyncracies because he appreciates having Jamesy as a friend. We don't really know anything about James, though it is assumed he has a mostly normal life apart from these visits for tea. Although there is a great contrast between the two characters, a bond of friendship is evident all the way through.

But while James seems to lack Jamesy's odd habits, he is the first one to break the fourth wall. There some very clever moments when James starts making asides and Jamesy looks out in bewildered terror, not quite knowing what is going on. Just as James indulges Jamesy's quirks, Jamesy starts to play along with this whole notion of "the audience", first cautiously, until he finally begins to see it for himself.

And at that point 2 for Tea stops following any conventional rules of drama that I have ever learned. It becomes an endearing blend of farce and improv where J&J start interacting with the audience and incorporating the response into their show on the fly. Some of these are planned, like when they go out to speak to audience members directly, and some of them happen organically, like when the guy sitting behind me had his phone start doing off, and Jamesy started dancing and singing along with the ringtone.

A large part of the play is based on audience participation. J&J pull certain audience members up to fulfill roles in the play: a general, a doctor, and Jamesy's parents. This is where the show could start to go either way. In the performance I saw, one of the audience members worked very well in the scene, while another worked somewhat less well. But whatever happened, J&J always had quick reflexes to keep the scene flowing smoothly.

The play goes into some weird places toward the end. There is plenty of comedy all throughout, oscillating between dry wit and slapstick, but there are sombre moments as well, plumbing the depths of their friendship and the universe at large. The whole thing is kind of a metaphor. Just as two friends may sit around a cup of tea (or whatever beverage you prefer) and ponder all life's questions, 2 for Tea is a meditation on all sorts of things, but continues to be anchored by this farcical afternoon tea.

2 for Tea is a hilarious, unique, meta-theatrical experience that isn't afraid to jump quite unexpectedly into darker subjects. Jamesy's peculiar mental state is used for comedic effect, but it's also treated with respect by the friendship they have for each other. It's a tale of friendship, above all. Friendship and tea.

Also, the two actors spend the whole show in heavy tweed jackets even though it gets close to 30°C in Oskayak gym. That's dedication.