The Tealights, Leeds University’s oldest sketch comedy company, performed its latest production last Wednesday and Thursday, with its newest cast members taking the stage and evoking endless laughs and giggles amongst the crowd.
I was fortunate enough to attend this new show, Harry’s Birthday Party, and watched as the Tealights cast put on what I can only describe as a buzzing, tangibly energetic and of course, absolutely hilarious performance.
Before the Tealights took the stage, the audience was entertained for the first hour by two very talented supporting acts. First up, Evie Cowen whirled us with her very chaotic, yet extremely entertaining performance. Evie’s performance consisted of a very random, yet hilarious collection of stories about her real-life encounters with people and life in general. I think the reliability and mundanity of her stories, such as for example, the ones about Spotify Wrapped and her race to cook jacket potatoes, drew the audience in, especially as the crowd largely consisted of young university students. The reference to common, modern-day topics, combined with her frantic, rambling energy, made for a thoroughly enjoyable act. You couldn’t help but be enthused by Evie’s random, hilarious tangents, which were made extra hilarious by her exaggerated body movements and voices. I was particularly entertained by Evie’s story about her trip to Austria – the way she imitated the small, Austrian children’s accents and bent down to mimic their size and height, genuinely left me and many of my friends in tears (of laughter of course).
Next up, Spike Woodley and Lewis Fraser, or rather, two American cowboys, Beau and Slick, sang a range of rather crude, yet hilarious songs, about their promiscuous grandmother, drugs and a whole other span of weird and wonderful stuff. I have to give it to them – Spike and Lewis truly immersed themselves in their characters, contributing to a very entertaining performance. I cannot forget when Spike performed his final song, belting his head back and pouring all his energy into the song. This was extremely impressive and perfectly highlights the dedication Spike and Lewis poured into their performance. I will say however, it felt at times the performance was a little aimless, especially as the characters simply jumped on stage and started singing. I believe if there was more structure to the performance, the audience would have been more engaged and consequently, left more entertained. Additionally, I felt if the songs were slightly shorter, the audience’s attention could have been sustained more strongly. Overall though, the level of effort put into this performance was very impressive and was a particular favourite amongst those who enjoy a more crude sense of humour.
Now, onto the main act of the night, the Tealights’ performance: Harry’s Birthday Party. There are so many things I could write about regarding this performance, so I have been forced to narrow it down to a few main points. What I will say however, is compared to the other performances I have reviewed thus far, Harry’s Birthday Party carried a very fresh, modern feel. All the skits were extremely relatable, drawing upon current-day pop culture references, which allowed the audience to feel connected to the performance and genuinely find each act hilarious. From Princess Diana, to digestive biscuits, to the World Cup and even Nanny McPhee, each act drew upon different corners of modern day British culture, providing for such a relevant and engaging production.
The audience also remained extremely gripped by the production, due its to very snappy, quick pace. Each skit had a very quick turnaround, ending with a strong punchline. This only meant that at no point, the audience was left bored or restless.
All these factors aside, what truly made the performance as entertaining as it was, was the performance of Tealights cast itself. You could tell just how talented the crew was, as when anyone walked on stage, their mere presence stirred laughter amongst the crowd. This can be attributed to the effort the cast invested into such small details, like their facial expressions and body movement. Callum Robertson’s portrayal of Diana was particularly hilarious, as he battered his eye-lids to his much smaller co-star, Ellen Hardy. The juxtaposition of this duo’s height was particularly funny, and also drew very clever reference to current-day jokes, like Elizabeth Deckey’s (actor for Diana in Season 5 of the Crown) very tall height. This was one of my favourite skits, alongside the cloud watching skit, which made a very funny and clever reference to Love Actually. Finally, Phoebe Graham’s portrayal of an intimacy acting coach was very popular amongst the audience and particularly my friends. The effort invested into this performance was so intense and high-energy that you simply couldn’t help but be impressed. The fact that she was so deadpan and serious when acting made the performance so much more hilarious, as it made the character seem so over-the-top and silly. Overall, the performance by all the cast members of the Leeds Tealights was extremely impressive. It was very apparent, alongside being extremely talented, that each of the cast members dedicated a lot of time and effort into their roles, leading to a performance that was entertaining and of high quality.
One final component I really enjoyed about Harry’s Birthday Party, was how well-structured the performance was. There was a clear start, middle and end, which made the production feel more purposeful and incited the audience to remain hooked throughout the entire the production.
When asked whether anything could be improved, the friends I had come with to see the Leeds Tealights had to think for a couple of minutes. While not much could be said upon this matter, one friend did believe the show could have benefited from slightly longer stints of music between each set as sometimes the music was cut short too quickly. As the music was often related to the skit itself, the performance would have felt a little bit more well-rounded if the songs were lengthened slightly, as the audience would have been able to better understand and make stronger links between the song and skit. Overall though, little fault can be found within the Tealight’s latest production. It was truly such a fun, fresh and simply hilarious show, which personally left me in tears (of laughter) at multiple points of the production. An amazing effort to the cast of the Leeds Tealights, including Emma Dodd, who was in charge of the sound and lighting throughout the show – she provided a flawless visual and aural experience for the audience. Everything could be heard clearly and the timing of the music between each skit was perfectly placed. Finally of course, this production would not have been possible without direction from Bethan Corner, producer of Harry’s Birthday Party – an amazing effort indeed!
If you didn’t have a chance to see Harry’s Birthday Party, be sure to follow the Leeds Tealights Production Company on Instagram @leedstealights for future updates about upcoming performances. If it was anything like this last production, you definitely won’t want to miss out!
Written by: Elena Goss
Edited by: Harsheni Maniarasan