The delightful 1 hour and 24 minutes you spend with Tea with the Dames will make you smile until your face hurts.
The Dames involved are Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, and Maggie Smith. They all earned their titles because of service to drama. They’ve been friends since forever and often get together.
This time, they allowed a camera crew to join them in one of their visits. The results were delicious. They gossiped, they recited lines they remembered from 60 years ago, they teased each other, they told funny stories, they reminisced. They talked about their husbands, their colleagues, and their parents. They talked about their failing eyesight and their hearing aids.
Old photos and film clips were interspersed with their remarks to illustrate the careers and lives of these four remarkable women of the theater.
They met in Joan Plowright’s house. Her husband was Laurence Olivier. He was often the topic of discussion. The four have been meeting there since they had small children and careers on the stage. There was talk about how different it is doing movies and television. They all agreed that they wanted to keep working for as long as people ask them.
Tea with the Dames is currently streaming on Hulu as part of your subscription. You can also rent it on Amazon Video, YouTube and several other streamers.
It’s a lovely time with the Dames. Watch it.