Franglais27 Tales

*I was invited to attend a performance of A Right Royale Tea but I was not obligated to write a review or produce any content concerning the event

The annual Afternoon Tea Week celebrations took place on 12th to 18th August 2019, whereby hotels, restaurants, tea rooms and other venues were offering the chance to indulge in this luxurious pastime. There were a variety of offers and connected events to participate in during this time including those within the Langham hotel, which is apparently where the first afternoon tea was served!

However, if you are wishing to indulge in an alternative to the traditional afternoon teas then you will certainly be interested by A Right Royale Tea.

In keeping with the traditions for afternoon tea, A Right Royale Tea occurs within a hotel and the Amba Hotel is the venue for this event. Located adjacent to the entrance to Charing Cross railway station, the hotel is certainly within an iconic location and indeed I must have walked past on the Strand, on several occasions, without being aware of its presence as it is discreetly tucked into a corner.

On entering the hotel, we were informed that the event would be taking place on the first floor within the bar and I must admit that the hotel’s sweeping staircase to such floor was rather impressive!

It was my first experience of an immersive theatre performance and so it was very amusing to assume a character at that stage in order to interact with the actors performing their roles.

The premise for the performance was that we, the audience, were the guests of Lord and Lady Right in a 1920s setting within their castle which was in a state of disrepair and as such fund raising was in order! Other guests included the daughter of Lord Right and there were of course butlers and other employees. Parts of the performance were already scripted and so the rest would be improvised!

Afternoon Tea

The afternoon tea itself was divided into three stages which co-incided with the ongoing performance as the attempts of the fictitious Lord and Lady Right to save their castle were unveiled. There were even interactive parlour games undertaken which all added to the enjoyment of the experience.

The unique afternoon tea menu included a range of sandwiches including the traditional cucumber sandwiches with a coriander mint chutney, which were neither soggy nor suffering from a dried-out crust I was pleased to discover! There were salmon sandwiches as well as egg sandwiches amongst others that were available. The sandwiches were not served upon a cake stand, however, but were available from shared platters.

Of course, there were also some photo opportunities with the actors as it was a tea party, after all!

There were lots of revelations by the end of the performance much to the rapturous applause by the audience. It is such an entertaining day out and provides that alternative to the other afternoon tea events located in the West End.

The performances are only available in London on Sunday afternoons and the current run will finish on 1 September 2019 and so there is still time to obtain those tickets if you wished to enjoy this immersive theatre experience!