NY Review: 'The Bachelors’ Tea Party'

As much of an event as a play, “The Bachelors’ Tea Party,” the latest production from Stolen Chair Theatre Company, makes for a filling if not completely fulfilling evening of theater. Staged in Lady Mendl’s Tea Salon on Irving Place, it tells the story of a turning point in the lives of Elsie de Wolfe and Bessie Marbury, two real women who lived together in New York during the early years of the 20th century. Calling themselves the bachelors, they were female entrepreneurs at a time when most women were expected to be wives and mothers, Marbury as one of New York’s first female theatrical agents and de Wolfe as the country’s first interior designer. Whether or not they were lovers is hinted at but never stated explicitly in the play.

“The Bachelors’ Tea Party” takes the form of four brief acts—each a tea service during which the two women host various friends and business associates—and depicts Marbury’s attempt to persuade de Wolfe to give up acting, an occupation for which she has little aptitude. It’s a small, personal action that also touches on the larger issue of female empowerment.

What sets the piece apart is that an actual five-course tea service is provided for the audience during the intermissions between acts. While I enjoyed my amuse-bouche immensely, I’m not sure what the purpose of it is within the evening as a whole. Playwright Kiran Rikhye and director Jon Stancato seem too smart to employ the tea service as a mere gimmick. In juxtaposing food for the body and food for the mind they must be making an intellectual statement of some sort. Unfortunately, I can’t tell what it is. Worse, the real fare is so much richer than the artificial that the meaning of the play, which is ostensibly the point of the production, pales beside the delight engendered by the feast.

The strength of the production resides in its two performers. Jody Flader gives de Wolfe a quick wit and a sharp mind, while Liz Eckert provides Marbury with a steely resolve that melts into affection within the space of a heartbeat. Julie Schworm’s costumes set the period and yet still look like clothes. Aviva Meyer deserves praise for procuring the two charming porcelain dolls that stand in for the guests at the bachelors’ teas.

My one piece of dining advice is that theatergoers not eat beforehand, so that they can partake of Lady Mendl’s delectable teas, cucumber sandwiches, and scones with Devonshire clotted cream. Otherwise, they will miss out on what might be the finest night of dinner theater they are ever likely to encounter.

Presented by Stolen Chair Theatre Company at Lady Mendl’s Tea Salon, 56 Irving Place, NYC. April 1–June 3. Sun., 5 p.m. (212) 410-2830 or www.stolenchair.org.