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=Tea at Four O'Clock=

Introduction
Tea at Four O’Clock is a [|farce] comedy that was written by [|Mrs. Harrison Burton] in 1886. The play follows a tea time that happens at Mrs. Effingham’s house in New York City. Throughout the play, she juggles with different guests popping in and out, as well as her attempt at obtaining the truth.

Synopsis
The play opens with Mrs. Effingham’s footman, Thomas, accidentally breaking a Dresden figure while cleaning the drawing room while he wasn’t paying attention. Mrs. Effingham, the owner of the house enters and scolds him for not being dressed presentably for her expected guests. As she sends him offstage, she delivers a monologue about her distaste for aging, hosting tea time due to how boring she claims to find it, and not seeing Arthur since the day before. As she grows more hysterical about as to why she thinks Arthur has not come around yet, her doorbell rings, and Thomas introduces Mr. Grayson.

Mrs. Effingham expresses surprise that a man has come to see her so early the day. But Mr. Grayson tells her it has been too long since he’s seen her, so he made her house the first stop of the day. The two of them make idle chat about the weather, that escalates into mild flirting. Mr. Grayson, in an aside to the audience, expresses his romantic interest in Mrs. Effingham. Before he gets to confess those feelings to her, the doorbell rings again, and Thomas introduces Mr. Walton, who enters with a disgusted look on his face. The two men both deliver asides to the audience to announce their detest for each other. Walton then reveals that he was both married and widowed while he spent time out west. The three of them continue to have a conversation about love while the two men continuously make asides to the audience about how much they do not like one another. They are interrupted again by the doorbell.

Thomas introduces Mr. Appleby, who can’t get a word in edgewise due to both his heavy stutter, as well as everyone else interrupting him. The bell rings again, and Thomas introduces Mrs. Marabout. The two women share asides to the audiences about what the other think they’ll do (which they both end up doing), and greet each other with a facade of niceness. After boasting about her new clothes, and complaining about the heat, she takes notice to the flowers in the room, and faints, claiming she is violently allergic to them. As everyone scrambles to tend to her, Mrs. Effingham reveals that they are fake flowers. As everyone laughs, the bell rings again.

Thomas introduces the Coddingtons, Mrs. and Arabella. The two have an exchange where Mrs. urges her daughter to carry a conversation, and to be anything but boring, which she succeeds in. While being forced into a group conversation, she is urged to tell the group of her and her mother’s visits and conversations earlier in the day. She becomes flustered and tells the room that Arthur is currently engaged in a duel to the death with a man he fought with at a bar. In a fit, Mrs. Effingham sends Thomas to send a message. The doorbell rings again. Thomas introduces General Sabretache, who enters as Mrs. Marabout exits. Abbleby attempts to follow her, but Mr. Walton doesn’t let him leave and keeps him in the conversation. Sabretache begins to monopolize the room’s conversation by talking about how he fought three men who gave him a weird look at the theatre. Which inspires to recall Walton of a story he tells about himself in the Civil War where he killed eleven soldiers. Upon the General’s astonishment, Walton reveals the entire story was a sarcastic response to his story. Frustrated by this, he exits. The doorbell rings again, and Thomas introduces Dr. Grantley.

Dr. Grantley enters, and tries to talk to everyone about a new tariff that has passed, he manages to lock down Walton and Appelby in a conversation, but sneak away while Dr. Grantley gets lost in his own words. When he realizes they’ve left him, he forces his conversation to Mrs. Effingham, but is interrupted by Arthur’s arrival. Happy that he is alive, Mrs. Effingham asks what actually happened. Arthur says that he left the man he was supposed to be dueling at the bar, reading Dr. Grantley’s pamphlet on the tariff. Sabretache and Mrs. Marabout return to express their condolences about the duel, aware that Arthur is in the room. Grayson then returns to tell Mrs. Effingham that Arthur is to marry another woman, but Arthur corrects him in saying he will marry Mrs. Effingham. Arabella then confesses to making up the whole story about the duel and breaks down into tears, only to be met with laughter from the rest of the crowd. Aghast, Mrs. Coddington invites Dr. Grantley to retire with her and her daughter. Everyone else begins to exit, and Mrs. Effingham exits to thank everybody for joining her for tea at four o’clock.

Characters

 * Mrs. Effingham- Host of the tea time. Mildly flirtatious, but her heart belongs to Arthur. Although she is attentive to her many guests, her pivotal focus throughout the entire play is her relationship and interactions with Thomas; mainly to make sure the mystery of Arthur is uncovered.


 * Mrs. Marabout- Women of similar social standing as Mrs. Effingham. Very show offish in the sense that she needs the room to know when she arrives, and what exactly she’s wearing. Despite the fact that she is civil with Mrs. Effingham, she goes out of her way to tell her about Arthur’s new romantic relationship. Also pretends to faint for attention.


 * Arthur- Simple man who is aloof for the majority of the play. Everyone knows about his affairs, romantic and combatic. He is presumed to be in dire peril, until he arrives completely unharmed and confused by the hysteria on his behalf


 * Mrs. Coddington- Arabella’s mother. Is insistent on making sure that her daughter is anything but boring.


 * Arabella Coddington- Mrs. Coddington’s daughter. Shy and squeamish. Anxious and really only there because her mother brought her.


 * Grayson- A true young man. Devoted to Mrs. Effingham and her friendship. Detests Walton.


 * Walton- A widower who travels a lot. Thinks very little of Walton, and is heavily sarcastic overall.


 * Appleby- Cab driver with a heavy stutter. His visit is ages longer than he intended, because he tries to leave on several failed occasion.


 * Sabretache- General with a big temper and even bigger mouth. Continually boasts about how violent and manly he is to those who oppose him. Leaves the room immediately when he is taken for a spin rhetorically.


 * Dr. Grantley- Arthur’s uncle. Doesn’t appear until later in the show. His sole objective is to discuss his newest tariff with anybody, and anybody who will listen.


 * Thomas- The footman of Mrs. Effingham. Clumsy and speaks with a thick dialect. Constantly interrupts conversations to introduce a new character. Helpful aid in being sly in planning with Mrs. Effingham.

Production & Reception
Tea at Four O’Clock originally premiered in private houses in Lenox and in [|New York City]. It then made its way to [|amateur productions] at the [|Madison Square Theatre] in 1887 In January of 1887, Tea at Four O’Clock was reviewed by the New York Times. According to the review, “some of the young men who embodied types of character that seemed to be recognized in the auditorium delivered the text of their parts with the fluency and expression of parrots, and were sadly bewildered by the intricate stage ‘business,’ which they had not thoroughly mastered.” The article goes on to praise lead actress, Mrs. Charles Dennison, who played Mrs. Effingham for her “tact and skill” that “saved the show.”

Original Recorded Ensemble

 * Mrs. Charles Dennison
 * Miss Alice Lawrence
 * Miss Lucie Coffey
 * Mr. E.F. Coward
 * Mr. Courtenay Thorpe

Ensemble-February 10th, 1887

 * May and Nellie Widdleton
 * Edith Gale, Alice Lawrence
 * S. T. Tyng
 * W. H. Lloyd
 * James H. Turner
 * Lorimer Stoddard
 * W. T. Wood
 * Frederick Tackaberry