THE JUBILEE TEA PARTY ACTION COMMITTEE

Sat 4 June 2022 at 5pm and Sun 5 June 2022 at 12pm & 3pm - Walled Garden, Delapré Abbey, Northampton NN4 8AW

Sun 12 June 2022 at 3pm and 5pm - St Crispin Retirement Village, St Cripsin Drive, Northampton NN5 4RA

Sat 18 June 2022 at 3pm and 5pm - Hunsbury Library, Overslade Close, Northampton NN4 0RZ

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On a sunny afternoon at Delapre Abbey we settled down to watch the dress rehearsal of The Jubilee Tea Party Action Committee.

No sooner had we sat down than we were persuaded by Counsellor Braun's assistant to wear a badge to support him. We didn't realise at first but It was all part of the show!

The acts kicked off with Owen War as Silas dressed in a lion costume beautifully crocheted by the happy hookers club.

What was supposed to be a recital of Albert and the Lion was instead adapted as a poem about the selling of a very valuable statue from the N-town museum which produced nods, titters and even gasps from the audience.

Kelly Bradley as Joan and Beverley Webster as Felicity were hilarious as the rival committee members who eventually ended up having a punch up on stage.

It was very funny watching Joan run around trying to keep control of the uncontrollable. Felicity, a mix between Hyacinth Bucket and lady bountiful had us laughing at her antics, particularly during her aria and dance routine as she imitated a stag complete with antlers.

Max Lawrence's superbly sleazy characterisation of the self serving Councillor Braun was extremely funny as he entertained us as a high energy MC and also dressed in a toga as Charles II.

Helen Clifford as Veronica had us in stitches with her Cha Cha dance as she recited the story of the Northamptonshire witch trials riding a puppet sow. The puppets of Agnes and Joan attached to her outfit were hilarious, even more so when she insisted that the pompous Felicity apologise to them for their execution on behalf of Northampton.

The brilliant rap performed by Lisa Smallwood as Harriet and April Pardoe as the lovable Trixy had the audience joining in the chorus with gusto.

We are Npton, we don't deserve nothing nice.
Build it up once, knock it down twice

we sang as we recalled the knocking down of some of Npton's treasured and not so treasured buildings.

The Great Fire of Northampton and King Charles Il were also given a comedic interpretation. Who
would have thought orange Marigolds could be so scary?

Although we have highlighted only a few of the scenes, the whole cast were fantastic.

The Jubilee Tea Party Action Committee was superbly directed by Tamsyn Payne and co directed by Gemma Knight.

What was exceptional about this production was that it was created from nothing and everything about it was devised by the whole cast and creative team in collaboration with Toby Park from Spymonkey in only two months.

Hats off to Masque Theatre for a very memorable jubilee production retelling the history of N-Town
in a unique and heartwarming way.

Masque Theatre is working with the international comedy sensation Spymonkey to bring you half an hour of stupid entertainment.

The Jubilee Action Tea-Party Committee are determined to welcome their very special visitor in style, but they can't quite agree on the best approach...

This pop-up play features local actors, a little bit of local history and brings together the community in the joy of live entertainment and music.

We will be presenting our show for free in non-theatre spaces so we hope you will be able to join us even if you don't normally do theatre!

It is suitable for everyone but will contain a lot of silliness and probably some mildly bad words.

Making the show

We are well into our devising process. The cast have come up with some delightfully silly ideas and some very interesting historical ones and we are in the process of mixing them all up together to see what emerges!

Join us for one of our free half hour performances and you will be treated to what we are calling Northampton's Alternative Pageant.

The Jubilee Tea-Party Action Committee have tried so hard to make something appropriate and tasteful to celebrate Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee, but well, it's all gone a bit Northampton...

The Jubilee Tea Party Action Committee is funded by Arts Council England and National Lottery Good Causes as part of the #LetsCreate Jubilee Fund - facilitated by Northamptonshire Community Foundation

Masque Theatre's production is directed by Tamsyn Payne, whose previous shows include: Romeo & Juliet (2020), Samaritans (2019), Macbeth (2018), Madame Bovary (2018), A Midsummer Night's Dream (2017), Dinner (2017), Arsenic & Old Lace (2014), Arabian Nights (2012), Dying For It (2010) and Les Liaisons Dangereuses (2007).