Tea with MamGu

Tea with MamGu is a piece of new writing written by David Evans. In February 2012 it was entered into Theatre Breaks Festival in South East London.  It is a 20 minute short comedy about three welsh grannies that attend their weekly OAP meeting but end up in the wrong venue. At the festival, the show entertained and left the audience wanting more.

Rehearsals

It all started with a group of friends discussing how funny their grannies were and the strange things they do, like washing their underwear when they have guests. This then devised the script and gave the writer a very truthful yet comedic short play. The director, and three actors met up and starting playing with the script and developing characters. The three grannies were to be played by three young actors, two girls and a guy dressed up as grannies.  Every rehearsal began with a read through of the script and then devising of small sketches to enhance the piece. It soon became very farcical and even the actors couldn’t control their laughter because of the comparison to real life.

However, it soon became apparent that this style of comedy was not everyone’s cup of tea. The actors had to make sure that it was taken light-heartedly and no one was insulted by the gags. It is briefly based on whether life imitates art or art imitates life.

 It took a few rehearsals to develop a strong final script but the biggest worry for the writer was ‘would the audience find it funny?’ Everyone knows at least one Granny who is slightly ‘off the wall’ and tells you ‘if the wind changes, your face will stay that way’ but does everyone relate to it and find it funny. Theatre breaks was the perfect opportunity to get the script out to an audience to see what they thought.

It was all about seizing an opportunity. Everything was at risk for the company as their reputation was at stake. However, as a new company would they lose anything from it? Even for a new business your reputation is important as that is what you are remembered for. Reputation is everything within the performing industry and it was vital for White Desert to embrace and use any feedback to improve on what was created. After many discussions and limited rehearsals, it was seen as a chance to have a gamble. As it is said ‘Fate is in our own hands’.

Feedback

Male Aged 81 ‘Oh that was absolutely brilliant, it made me think of my wife, although, I

 Do not think she realised that it was based on her’

Female Age 56 ‘The funniest thing I have seen in a while! The Mamgu’s aren’t just welsh they are hyper-welsh!’

Theatre Breaks 'Great little comedy that had the audiences laughing out loud every night of the festival.'

Female Age 42 ‘Reminded me of my mum, everyone when they get old says silly and stupid things and they have managed to get this just right!’

Male age 20 ‘I’ve seen this show a few times now and it is still funny, it just gets better and better’

From this one opportunity, the short play was performed at the Bloomsbury Festival at the London Welsh Centre in November 2012. Again, the farcical comedy left the audience weeping with laughter.

Due to the success of the show in 2012, the writer David Evans, began to make a full length show, inviting new characters to be involved. In one year this show has developed into a show that is now being performed in venues all over the UK. It started off being a little snapshot of work for the actors and an opportunity for the writer and has changed into a professional show that will provide light entertainment to many in 2013.

Marketing

Getting the show out there was hard. Social Media was the best way to get people talking about it, and it was free. Without networking sites the show would have been a failure as it would have limited the market the show reached. We used Facebook and Twitter to market the show and now we are using YouTube and flyers (as seen above) to reach as many people as possible. 
The best marketing scheme we have found is to contact venues directly via email, including the flyer and trailer link. This gives you direct contact and the chance to discuss in depth what the show is about.

From the company’s point it view, it was a small expense at the beginning for props and costumes and the time given but ended up being beneficial because venues are now paying for the show to be performed. The company will now make a profit from what started off as a discussion amongst friends.

The trailer for the show can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LgxgjwCmyc&list=UUadGmvxPkx5djbstD0w3v6w&index=10