ShowBizRadio

Listen to our review of Zemfira Stage’s Tea at Five [MP3 2:51 1.3MB].

Laura: This is the ShowBizRadio Review of Tea at Five, performed by Zemfira Stage, in Alexandria, Virginia. We saw the performance on Sunday evening, July 20, 2008.

Mike: Tea at Five is a one woman play written by Matthew Lombardo. It tells the story of Katharine Hepburn as a monologue and is based on Hepburn’s book, “Me, Stories of My Life.”

Laura: I thought this show was very well performed. The actress Katharine Hepburn was played by Laura Russell. I thought she did a good job of breaking down the fourth wall. She made it seem very engaging. You felt like you were a part of her life. You had empathy for her situation and what was going on around her. I enjoyed her stories.

Mike: This was a very well performed show. Laura Russell was on stage the entire time performing in this one woman show. I remembered only a few shows from Katharine Hepburn’s career, such as On Golden Pond. I remember asking myself whether she was in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? After looking it up we realized that she was. I also remembered The Philadelphia Story. Although those were the only movies I remember seeing her in, she did so many movies and so many plays in her life. I did not know a lot about her so I learned a lot about her during the show.

It did cause me to wonder if these biography type shows have a purpose? It seems like it is feeding into the whole celebrity frenzy that people go through via the Paris Hiltons of the world and the Heath Ledger stories that have gone on? Do we really need to know all that? Do we really need to know about all the personal tragedies that form the actors that we see.

Laura: In a way I see it as living through the eyes of somebody else. How many of us say we are going to make it big in New York or Hollywood and then we never see or hear from them again. I guess it is living vicariously through someone else. I learned a lot about Katharine Hepburn’s life. I think Laura Russell did a good job.

Mike: I think this was a very well performed show. Tea at Five is playing for two more nights. Thursday the 24th and Friday the 25th at 8 pm at the Lyceum in Alexandria Virginia. The show ran two hours with one intermission.

Laura: I think this was an interesting and educational show. I recommend that you go see it. We’d also like to invite you to join our free mailing list so you can stay informed with theatre happenings in the Northern Virginia, DC, Maryland region.

Mike: And now, on with the show.

Cast

• Katharine Hepburn: Laura Russell

Crew

• Producer/Director: Zina T. Blek
• Technical Director/Sound Design: Herb Tax
• Technical Crew: Lynn Lacey, John G. McCracken, Jr.
• Front of House: Eleni Aldridge