Birds of Paradise theatre are a Scottish touring group with disabled and non-disabled actors and a disability-led managing team. This structure brings a backdrop of authenticity to Don’t.Make.Tea. at the Soho Theatre which, while it is a farce, touches on some very real modern issues.
The audience did not always find the play easy. You need to be willing to suspend disbelief – at least two of the main characters are hallucinations at certain points and some choices are over the top. Some of those around me found this frustrating and confusing.
However, the comedy and chaos allows the key message to shine through in a way which is not hectoring: the disability benefits system is not fit for purpose currently and the future does not seem to be promising improvement. The lack of flexibility and understanding of individual situations makes life harder rather than easier for people with disabilities to exist in society.
The set is very clever with signing and captions built in, beginning from before the show starts, and readying us for a Black Mirror-style experience of the future. Able (Richard Conlon) a futuristic Alexa audio describes what is happening with a Big Brother accuracy and Jude (Nicola Chegwin) provides a BSL interpretation – both built into the furniture of the apartment.
Chris Dunlop (Gillian Dean) has a degenerative illness which is claiming her illness and her sight. Having loved her job, it is now beyond her and her frozen benefits are making life impossible. Passing her re-assessment is crucial. Assessor Ralph (Neil John Russell) oozes an almost uncanny reasonableness as he explains that passing no longer means receiving benefits, rather being thrust back into the workplace. Their awkward and probing conversation reaches a desperate crescendo at the interval as Dunlop realises that simple human gestures, like making a joke, have tipped her into the work-ready category.
The second half explores the same themes but feels a completely distinct and more chaotic and frenzied play. Previously static characters Jude and Able come alive as hallucinations and a fifth character (a disabled-person-hating disabled person, Francis, played by Emery Hunter) is introduced.
While uneven, the two parts together provide an at times brutal insight into what it is like to life at the mercy of PIP and other government inspectors. This makes this a play worth seeing.
Have others seen Don’t.Make.Tea.? What were your thoughts?
Red Bus Londinium Life 
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