| programme_notes_for_tea_in_a_china_cup__2006_.docx |
Programme Notes for Tea in a China Cup (2026)
Tea in a China Cup was written by Christina Reid, a woman born and bred in Belfast. This play was first performed in the Lyric theatre in1983. Christina was a writer of short stories and moved on to produce a series of plays.This play centres on a Belfast family of the Protestant working class between 1939 and 1972, and particularly on the women of the family. It presents a political as well as a social picture of the community, from the turbulent decades of the Second World War to the height of the Troubles.
We encounter a community marked by division, sectarianism, religion, politics and class, yet held together by the familiar rituals of everyday life.
If you would like to hear these programme notes, they will be read again ten minutes before the play starts, so take your seat ten minutes before the show starts.
Set
Three separate large free standing panels form the main set. Two are large house fronts and one is a large interior of a family home. The two house fronts each have four large windows. These panels are versatile. One house has a door that opens and it appears to be part of a terrace street. The central panel is an interior of a family home, with 4 large portraits of family members on the wall above a sofa. The sofa has a red cover. In a later scene a white metal bedstead is in the room.
Cast and costumes
With the costumes, Gillian Lennox, the costume designer, aimed to ensure that the stories being told are firmly planted in the four decades of the 40s, 50s, 60s and the early 70s.
For the memory scenes she wanted the colors to be reminiscent of colors from the time periods of the late 1930s/40s and 50s - she used a muted palette of sepia tones, browns, duck egg and greens and lots of the fabrics and costumes have been dyed and faded. Along with the colour palette, the floral and linear patterns evoke the specific decades of the 20th century.
She spent a lot of time researching and finding images from working class Belfast, surrounding towns and other industrial cities from that time. Even though the people may not have had much money wise, their clothes looked smart due to the styling and cut, if a little rough around the edges due to wear and repair.
As much as possible, costumes have been sourced, and fabric from the 40s and 50s has been used in makes. Footwear has been sourced from unworn 50s and 60s dead stock shoes.
Beth is modest in her dress so as she moves between the decades she is not out of place and the costumes of the other characters help reflect her memories. Played by Amy Molloy, she is in her 30s, slim and of average height with long dark hair. She has a heart shaped face with a fair complexion and pale blue eyes under dark eyebrows.
When we meet her first she is wearing a fitted brown woolen knee-length coat which has a wide collar, brass buttons and pockets. Her wide shirt collar sits out over the coat. A full pink knee-length skirt is just visible and she wears sturdy brown leather court shoes with a slight heel. When she takes off her coat she is wearing a pink and grey striped woolen tank top over her shirt. When she meets Theresa at their civil service interview, she wears a blue/green overcoat buttoned up and silk scarf around her neck and carries a cream leather handbag on her arm. On the eve of her wedding Beth tries on her veil - puffy white net or lace it sits up high and full off her face. In 1971 she wears a checked overcoat.
When we first meet Sarah, played by Mary Moulds, she is in her 50s but appears very ill and frail. Standing in her blue floral ankle length dressing gown and blue matching velour slippers she leans on a walking stick and her head is covered with a silk scarf.
In the first memory scene the year is 1939 and Sarah is aged about 23, she wears a pale floral, loose-fitting cotton dress which falls just below her knees and she has a blue blue floral apron tied around her waist. She wears a pale blue knitted cardigan with the sleeves pulled up to the elbows. She wears brown leather shoes and once white ankle socks. Her thick, dark, curly hair falls just below her shoulders. When visiting the fortune teller she wears a bright green overcoat and carries a cream leather handbag. Later she wears a bright yellow button-up dress which falls to just below her knees and a dark orange cardigan. When heavily pregnant, she wears a blue floral maternity smock with a blue floral skirt and carries her groceries in a woven bag. Later she will wear a pale blue pinafore over a green jumper and cream coloured soft leather shoes.
Maria Connolly plays multiple roles. As the council clerk she wears a bouffant style wig and horn-rimmed cat's eye glasses. Over a high collared long sleeve cream blouse with scarf, she wears a fitted pale blue buttoned up woolen waistcoat and knee length skirt. Her low heeled cream shoes round off her officious look and let the audience know that this is a character from the 70s. As the fortune teller she wears a woolen hat, shawl and fingerless gloves, a pale floral dress and mustard coloured cardigan, and brown leather ankle boots. As Mrs Jamison, she wears a little black felt narrow brimmed hat, long green cardigan over a grey dress and apron, glasses and a silk scarf knotted under her chin.
Theresa, played by Louise Parker, is in her 30s. She is tall and pale with long straight ginger hair. When we meet her first she wears a red leather coat buttoned up over a wide collared shirt and a mini skirt just peeking out below. She has little brown leather shoulder bag and knee high patent leather heeled boots As a primary school girl her hair is pulled back in 2 plaits. She wears a grey cardigan over a short blue cotton dress. Her white knee socks are pulled up and she wears black leather flat shoes. For Grammar school, her hair is tied up in a bow. She has a dark green gabardine coat, dark green pinafore, green and white striped tie, white shirt, brown shoes and a cross body satchel. At the civil service interview her hair is tied up in a bun and she wears a mustard coloured coat over a floral dress and brown leather court shoes. Later she wears her hair down with a headband and a pale blue skirt suit with buttoned jacket and cream flat shoes. As a near 30 year old, she wears a brown tank-top over a cream shirt and a knee length checked bias cut brown and cream skirt with knee high patent leather boots.
When we first meet the Grandfather, played by John Paul Connolly, he wears tan coloured woolen trousers with a green waistcoat over a heavy brushed cotton shirt rolled up at the wrists revealing a leather strapped wrist watch. He has brown leather shoes and a traditional brown woolen flat cap. He is a big man with a white beard. Later he will wear a grey woolen overcoat and a tie.
The Grandmother, played by Marie Jones wears a tan knee length house coat over her brown dress. Her sturdy brown leather shoes lace up with a very slight heel. She is a little woman whose hair has been tightly set with rollers. Later, her house coat will be replaced with a similarly coloured apron. When visiting the fortune teller she wears a grey woolen coat and carries a black handbag. Later, she wears a green floral dress with a green cardigan. When tending to the body of Granda Jamison, she and Aunt Maisie wear black plastic aprons and their heads covered with scarves. Maisie puts on one black rubber glove.
Aunt Maisie, played by Katie Tumelty, is small and thin. Just the front of her rollered hair can be seen, the rest is covered by a silk scarf worn like a turban. She wears a long cream cardigan over a pale grey shirt and brown skirt with apron. She wears fur rimmed ankle boots.
Simon Sweeney plays Samuel and Sammy. He is tall with dark hair slicked back with brylcreem. As Samuel he wears the British Army uniform and polished boots of a new recruit in the 2nd World War. As Sammy he wears a khaki British army uniform complete with a black beret. He also plays a ‘Youth’ wearing a balaclava, a short, tight denim jacket, wide collared shirt, brown jumper, flared trousers and black Dr Marten style bovver boots.
Matthew Forsythe plays the roles of a British army officer and sergeant wearing those uniforms. He also plays a house valuer for which he wears a grey suit with flared trousers and wide collared jacket.
Creative Team
Director: Dan Gordon
Set and Lighting Designor: Ciaran Bagnall
Costume Designer ; Gillian Lennox
Sound Designer : Chris Warner
Some of the music was recorded and provided by The Mourne Young Defenders Band in Kilkeel. Traditional Belfast street songs and games were recorded from the Lyric Theatre’s School for
Young people.
Tea in a China Cup was written by Christina Reid, a woman born and bred in Belfast. This play was first performed in the Lyric theatre in1983. Christina was a writer of short stories and moved on to produce a series of plays.This play centres on a Belfast family of the Protestant working class between 1939 and 1972, and particularly on the women of the family. It presents a political as well as a social picture of the community, from the turbulent decades of the Second World War to the height of the Troubles.
We encounter a community marked by division, sectarianism, religion, politics and class, yet held together by the familiar rituals of everyday life.
If you would like to hear these programme notes, they will be read again ten minutes before the play starts, so take your seat ten minutes before the show starts.
Set
Three separate large free standing panels form the main set. Two are large house fronts and one is a large interior of a family home. The two house fronts each have four large windows. These panels are versatile. One house has a door that opens and it appears to be part of a terrace street. The central panel is an interior of a family home, with 4 large portraits of family members on the wall above a sofa. The sofa has a red cover. In a later scene a white metal bedstead is in the room.
Cast and costumes
With the costumes, Gillian Lennox, the costume designer, aimed to ensure that the stories being told are firmly planted in the four decades of the 40s, 50s, 60s and the early 70s.
For the memory scenes she wanted the colors to be reminiscent of colors from the time periods of the late 1930s/40s and 50s - she used a muted palette of sepia tones, browns, duck egg and greens and lots of the fabrics and costumes have been dyed and faded. Along with the colour palette, the floral and linear patterns evoke the specific decades of the 20th century.
She spent a lot of time researching and finding images from working class Belfast, surrounding towns and other industrial cities from that time. Even though the people may not have had much money wise, their clothes looked smart due to the styling and cut, if a little rough around the edges due to wear and repair.
As much as possible, costumes have been sourced, and fabric from the 40s and 50s has been used in makes. Footwear has been sourced from unworn 50s and 60s dead stock shoes.
Beth is modest in her dress so as she moves between the decades she is not out of place and the costumes of the other characters help reflect her memories. Played by Amy Molloy, she is in her 30s, slim and of average height with long dark hair. She has a heart shaped face with a fair complexion and pale blue eyes under dark eyebrows.
When we meet her first she is wearing a fitted brown woolen knee-length coat which has a wide collar, brass buttons and pockets. Her wide shirt collar sits out over the coat. A full pink knee-length skirt is just visible and she wears sturdy brown leather court shoes with a slight heel. When she takes off her coat she is wearing a pink and grey striped woolen tank top over her shirt. When she meets Theresa at their civil service interview, she wears a blue/green overcoat buttoned up and silk scarf around her neck and carries a cream leather handbag on her arm. On the eve of her wedding Beth tries on her veil - puffy white net or lace it sits up high and full off her face. In 1971 she wears a checked overcoat.
When we first meet Sarah, played by Mary Moulds, she is in her 50s but appears very ill and frail. Standing in her blue floral ankle length dressing gown and blue matching velour slippers she leans on a walking stick and her head is covered with a silk scarf.
In the first memory scene the year is 1939 and Sarah is aged about 23, she wears a pale floral, loose-fitting cotton dress which falls just below her knees and she has a blue blue floral apron tied around her waist. She wears a pale blue knitted cardigan with the sleeves pulled up to the elbows. She wears brown leather shoes and once white ankle socks. Her thick, dark, curly hair falls just below her shoulders. When visiting the fortune teller she wears a bright green overcoat and carries a cream leather handbag. Later she wears a bright yellow button-up dress which falls to just below her knees and a dark orange cardigan. When heavily pregnant, she wears a blue floral maternity smock with a blue floral skirt and carries her groceries in a woven bag. Later she will wear a pale blue pinafore over a green jumper and cream coloured soft leather shoes.
Maria Connolly plays multiple roles. As the council clerk she wears a bouffant style wig and horn-rimmed cat's eye glasses. Over a high collared long sleeve cream blouse with scarf, she wears a fitted pale blue buttoned up woolen waistcoat and knee length skirt. Her low heeled cream shoes round off her officious look and let the audience know that this is a character from the 70s. As the fortune teller she wears a woolen hat, shawl and fingerless gloves, a pale floral dress and mustard coloured cardigan, and brown leather ankle boots. As Mrs Jamison, she wears a little black felt narrow brimmed hat, long green cardigan over a grey dress and apron, glasses and a silk scarf knotted under her chin.
Theresa, played by Louise Parker, is in her 30s. She is tall and pale with long straight ginger hair. When we meet her first she wears a red leather coat buttoned up over a wide collared shirt and a mini skirt just peeking out below. She has little brown leather shoulder bag and knee high patent leather heeled boots As a primary school girl her hair is pulled back in 2 plaits. She wears a grey cardigan over a short blue cotton dress. Her white knee socks are pulled up and she wears black leather flat shoes. For Grammar school, her hair is tied up in a bow. She has a dark green gabardine coat, dark green pinafore, green and white striped tie, white shirt, brown shoes and a cross body satchel. At the civil service interview her hair is tied up in a bun and she wears a mustard coloured coat over a floral dress and brown leather court shoes. Later she wears her hair down with a headband and a pale blue skirt suit with buttoned jacket and cream flat shoes. As a near 30 year old, she wears a brown tank-top over a cream shirt and a knee length checked bias cut brown and cream skirt with knee high patent leather boots.
When we first meet the Grandfather, played by John Paul Connolly, he wears tan coloured woolen trousers with a green waistcoat over a heavy brushed cotton shirt rolled up at the wrists revealing a leather strapped wrist watch. He has brown leather shoes and a traditional brown woolen flat cap. He is a big man with a white beard. Later he will wear a grey woolen overcoat and a tie.
The Grandmother, played by Marie Jones wears a tan knee length house coat over her brown dress. Her sturdy brown leather shoes lace up with a very slight heel. She is a little woman whose hair has been tightly set with rollers. Later, her house coat will be replaced with a similarly coloured apron. When visiting the fortune teller she wears a grey woolen coat and carries a black handbag. Later, she wears a green floral dress with a green cardigan. When tending to the body of Granda Jamison, she and Aunt Maisie wear black plastic aprons and their heads covered with scarves. Maisie puts on one black rubber glove.
Aunt Maisie, played by Katie Tumelty, is small and thin. Just the front of her rollered hair can be seen, the rest is covered by a silk scarf worn like a turban. She wears a long cream cardigan over a pale grey shirt and brown skirt with apron. She wears fur rimmed ankle boots.
Simon Sweeney plays Samuel and Sammy. He is tall with dark hair slicked back with brylcreem. As Samuel he wears the British Army uniform and polished boots of a new recruit in the 2nd World War. As Sammy he wears a khaki British army uniform complete with a black beret. He also plays a ‘Youth’ wearing a balaclava, a short, tight denim jacket, wide collared shirt, brown jumper, flared trousers and black Dr Marten style bovver boots.
Matthew Forsythe plays the roles of a British army officer and sergeant wearing those uniforms. He also plays a house valuer for which he wears a grey suit with flared trousers and wide collared jacket.
Creative Team
Director: Dan Gordon
Set and Lighting Designor: Ciaran Bagnall
Costume Designer ; Gillian Lennox
Sound Designer : Chris Warner
Some of the music was recorded and provided by The Mourne Young Defenders Band in Kilkeel. Traditional Belfast street songs and games were recorded from the Lyric Theatre’s School for
Young people.
