Don’t. Make. Tea.
2022 & 2024
Don’t. Make. Tea. is a dark comedy by award-winning playwright Rob Drummond.
A witty ridiculing of the welfare state, the show explores a futuristic benefits regime through the assessment of Chris as she is forced to claim benefits. With bitingly satirical dialogue, and cutting-edge accessible staging interwoven through the show, Don’t. Make. Tea. confronts the lengths disabled people must go to in order to preserve themselves in an unjust system.
Don’t. Make. Tea. was first performed at Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre in 2022. The show was remounted for a UK tour in 2024 in celebration of BOP’s 30th anniversary.
Written by Rob Drummond
Directed by Robert Softley Gale
The Team
Additional team members
| Associate Artist | Zephyr Liddell (2022) |
| Associate Artist’s Assistant | Martha Williams (2022) |
Production Team 2022
| Producer | Michelle Rolfe |
| Associate Production Manager | Finley Dickens |
| Assistant Stage Manager & Costume Supervisor | Giulia Pizziol |
| Personal Assistant | Caroline Knowles |
| Personal Assistant | Ella Bowsher |
| Filmmaker | Colin Purves |
| BSL Script Interpreter | Clare Canton |
| BSL Consultant | Amy Murray |
| Captioning Consultant | Ann Thallon |
| Press & Marketing Support | Sharon McHendry |
| Marketing Design | Greenlight Creative |
| Photography | Andy Catlin |
| Trailer | airship23.com |
| Producer | Michelle Rolfe |
| Assistant Producer | Anne Kjaer |
| Technical Manager | Finley Dickens |
| Lighting Technician | Josh Brown |
| Wardrobe Manager | Catriona Charlton |
| Stage Manager | Alison Brodie |
| Company Stage Manager | Babette Wickham-Riddick |
| Deputy Stage Manager | Emma Skaer |
| Assistant Stage Manager | Giulia Pizziol |
| Personal Assistants | Caroline Knowles, Ella Bowsher |
| Filmmaker | Colin Purves |
| Press & Marketing Support | Chloe Nelkin Consulting |
| Marketing Design | Greenlight Creative |
| Photography | Andy Catlin |
| Trailer | airship23.com |
Access
In BOP’s signature style of creatively integrated access, all shows featured audio description, BSL interpretation and captioning woven into the text of the production. Within the near-future setting of Don’t. Make. Tea., the high-tech access devices used by the main character Chris also provided access to the audience, as well as becoming characters in their own right over the course of the show.
You can find out more about how we approached access in Don’t. Make. Tea. by looking through the access section of the show archive, linked at the bottom of this page.
Tour Dates
IO Cambridge Street, Edinburgh EHI 2ED
IO Cambridge Street, Edinburgh EHI 2ED
21 Dean Street, London WID 3NE
63 Trongate, Glasgow GI 5HB
Venue access video
In the Media
Photos and Videos
Special Events
Alongside the Don’t. Make. Tea. tour, BOP hosted two discussion events titled “Disability benefits in the UK — a serious response to a dark comedy”. The first event was held in London and the second was a national online conversation.
Participants from across arts, social care, disability rights and activism were invited to discuss the difficult questions: How do we, as a society, support disabled people? Why do we have a benefits system and what can we do to make it better? Is it just about money?
Supported by Graeae Theatre Company, CRIPtic Arts, Tourettes Hero, Disability Benefits Consortium and Disabled People Against Cuts, BOP hosted these events to ask big questions that have no simple answers. With key provocations from Jess Thom, Dr Sally Witcher and Ellen Clifford of Disabled People Against Cuts, we held space for discussion, allegiance building and action planning.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum
Production Story
Don’t. Make. Tea. was first performed at Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre in 2022. The show was remounted and updated for a 2024 UK tour in celebration of BOP’s 30th anniversary.
Both productions were accompanied by events and projects that encouraged audiences to engage in different ways with the themes of the show. Online and in-person discussion events supported by Graeae Theatre, Disabled People Against Cuts and the Disability Benefits Consortium held space for debate and strategic discussion. Meanwhile, Associate Artist Zephyr Liddell facilitated BREW, a collaborative art project using found poetry and natural textile dyeing.
The Don’t. Make. Tea. archive page is currently under construction. You will be able to find out more about the show, including interviews, media and production information, by visiting this page when it goes live.
Thank yous
Since 2019, many people have contributed to the making of this show. We would like to thank them all starting with the people that Rob interviewed in the early stages as well as the two development casts.
Thank you to everyone that contributed to BOP’s Benefits Debate in April 2022. Additional thanks to Jess at the National Theatre of Scotland and Arion at Scottish Opera, Blue Parrot, Big House.
Finally, thank you to everyone at the Traverse and all venues on the 2024 tour for making us feel at home.
