''Tea at Five'' is a 2002 one-woman play, written by Matthew Lombardo, which tells the story of

Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...

in a monologue. It is based on Hepburn's book ''Me: Stories of My Life''. The play starred

Kate Mulgrew Katherine Kiernan Maria Mulgrew (born April 29, 1955) is an American actress and author. She is best known for her roles as Captain Kathryn Janeway on '' Star Trek: Voyager'' and Red on '' Orange Is the New Black''. She first came to attention ...

, and was apparently written with her in mind for the part. Mulgrew is something of a Hepburn lookalike, and has been frequently compared to Hepburn, a comparison she has said in interview she found "odious." Mulgrew was not a fan of Hepburn before studying for the part, but apparently came to greatly appreciate Hepburn while researching the role.

Plot

''Tea at Five'' is an intimate look at Katharine Hepburn at home in her Fenwick estate in

Old Saybrook Old Saybrook is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 10,481 at the 2020 census. It contains the incorporated borough of Fenwick, as well as the census-designated places of Old Saybrook Center and Saybro ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. The first act takes place in September 1938. Despite

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

appearances and her first

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

, she has just been labeled "box office poison" after a series of film flops. With her professional future in doubt, she contemplates her childhood in Hartford, education and her start in show business. The second act takes place in February 1983, after Hepburn was injured in a car crash. The accident affords the now-legendary star an opportunity to reflect on the triumphs of her career and her heart-breaking romance with

Spencer Tracy Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two cons ...

Origin/ Productions

Aspiring playwright Matthew Lombardo was watching the television program '' Star Trek: Voyager'' with his friend actress

Nancy Addison Nancy Addison Altman (March 21, 1946Born 1946 as peSocial Security Death Index website accessed August 20, 2014. – June 18, 2002), also known as Nancy Addison, was an American actress noted for her appearances in soap operas. She first attra ...

who appeared on ''

Ryan's Hope ''Ryan's Hope'' is an American soap opera created by Claire Labine and Paul Avila Mayer, airing for 13 years on ABC from July 7, 1975, to January 13, 1989. It revolves around the trials and tribulations within a large Irish-American family in th ...

'' the

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

for which Lombardo was at the time a

staff writer In journalism, a staff writer byline indicates that the author of the article is an employee of the periodical, as opposed to being an independent freelance writer. In Britain, staff writers may work in the office instead of traveling to cover a b ...

. Seeing

in the lead role of Captain

Kathryn Janeway Kathryn Janeway is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' franchise. She was the Captain of the Starfleet starship USS ''Voyager'' (on '' Star Trek: Voyager'') while it was lost in the Delta Quadrant on the other side of the galaxy. After re ...

, (Matthew Lombardo quote:) "I said: 'My god, she looks like Katharine Hepburn! Someone should write a play for her!' Nancy said: "You’re a playwright, you idiot, write it and I’ll get it to her.' So I did." Kate Mulgrew originated the role of Katharine Hepburn at Hartford Stage in 2002, and remained with the show through productions at Cleveland Play House, American Repertory Theatre (Cambridge, MA), Promenade Theatre (New York), Cuillo Center for the Arts (West Palm Beach, FL), Orpheum Theatre (Phoenix, AZ), The Buschnell Belding Theatre (Hartford, CT), The Shubert Theatre (Boston), Hippodrome Theatre (Baltimore), Seattle Repertory Theatre, Marines Memorial Theatre (San Francisco), and Pasadena Playhouse. An audiobook production of ''Tea at Five'' is available on CD, released in September 2004. The script is published by Samuel French. A tour starred four-time Tony Award Nominee

Tovah Feldshuh Terri Sue "Tovah" Feldshuh (born December 27, 1948) is an American actress, singer, and playwright. She has been a Broadway star for more than four decades, earning four Tony Award nominations. She has also received two Emmy Award nominations fo ...

, opening at the Northshore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie, IL and then playing the Parker Playhouse in Ft. Lauderdale, FL on January 9 through 13, 2008. A professionally licensed production took place at the Stratford-upon-Avon Fringe Festival (UK) from Saturday 2–9 June 2012 starring Meg Lloyd as Katharine Hepburn, Directed by Christopher Wraysford and produced by Indefatigable Productions where it won awards for Best Solo Production and Best Female Actor and was also nominated for Best Director. The same production moved to The

Old Joint Stock Theatre The Old Joint Stock Theatre is a studio theatre and pub located at 4 Temple Row West in the centre of Birmingham, England. The listed building was designed as a library but owes its present name to its use by Birmingham Joint Stock Bank. Histor ...

in Birmingham (UK) for performances on 14 & 15 September 2012. This production was also performed at the

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

in August 2013, co-directed by Richard Bunn and Rebecca Phillips and starring Meg Lloyd. It was announced in December 2018 that

Faye Dunaway Dorothy Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Faye Dunaway, many accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden ...

would headline a 2019

production of ''Tea at Five'', which would return the actress to Broadway some thirty-seven years after her sole Broadway lead role in the 1982 flop ''The Curse of an Aching Heart'', itself Dunaway's first New York stage engagement in sixteen years. Revamped by playwright Matthew Lombardo into a seventy minute single act focused on Katharine Hepburn at age 75, and helmed by the premiere production's director

John Tillinger John Tillinger (born June 28, 1938) is a theatre director and actor. Life and career Joachim F. Tillinger was born in Tabriz, Iran. His father was German Jewish and his mother was Protestant. Tillinger was raised in England, where he was first ...

, ''Tea at Five'' played at the Huntington Avenue Theatre in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

22 June-14 July 2019 engagement headlined by Dunaway. Subsequent to this purportedly Broadway tryout engagement there were reports that the play's producers had fired Dunaway for unprofessional backstage behaviour, although ''Tea at Fives Boston engagement had not been an audience draw and had received mixed reviews which would not have encouraged a Broadway transfer. The producers' issued a statement that "plans are in development for the play to have its West End debut early next year with a new actress to play the role of Katharine Hepburn", but this did not eventuate. Other actors to star in ''Tea at Five'' include

Stephanie Zimbalist Stephanie Zimbalist (born October 8, 1956) is an American actress best known for her role as Laura Holt in the NBC detective series ''Remington Steele''. Background Stephanie Zimbalist was born in New York City, the daughter of Loranda Stepha ...

and

Charles Busch Charles Louis Busch (born August 23, 1954) is an American actor, screenwriter, playwright and drag queen, known for his appearances on stage in his own camp style plays and in film and television. He wrote and starred in his early plays Off-off- ...

References

{{Katharine Hepburn 2002 plays American plays Biographical plays about actors Plays set in the 1930s Plays set in the 1980s Monodrama Plays set in Connecticut Plays for one performer Fiction set in 1938 Fiction set in 1983 Cultural depictions of Katharine Hepburn