Teaside – a Travelling Tearoom

As part of the BBC/Arts Council England’s national project Made in England Skimstone performers have created a distinctive and intimate theatrical experience in their cozy mobile tearoom. Here at the big Tea Party Rose, Alberto, and Bill continue to lead members of the public into a world of funny, bizarre and poignant tales about what it’s like to be in England, whilst encouraging audience members to share and record their own real life stories.

Tea Side celebrates the sharing of a story, the value of interaction, a tea moment of intimacy, where art and the public have a true sense of equality, as the public become part of the construction of the artwork, exploring themes of what it’s like to be in England.

Information

Produced
2009
Performance venues
Hartlepool, Darlington, Stockton, Guisborough, Bishop Auckland
Commission / Funders
BBC Tees, Made in England, Arts Council England

“BBC Tees is delighted to be part of this project. People are sometimes uncomfortable talking about themselves and their sense of identity. In fact, it’s very English to be reluctant to talk about Englishness! We think the traveling tea room will be an ingenious and creative way of using fictitious stories to draw out real ones, And all over a cup of the fuel that powers the English race: tea.”
- Matthew Barraclough, Editor, BBC Tees
“We are delighted to join forces with the BBC on Made in England, a nationwide partnership with compelling local appeal. The BBC’s wide-reaching distribution is helping us to achieve our mission of great art for everyone, using projects like Tea Side, a Travelling Tearoom to enable people to explore their creative potential by working with leading artists.”
- Mark Robinson, Executive Director, Arts Council England