]Dr Patricia Petersen’s new play, ‘Cup of Tea?, which has just started a three week season at the Newtown theatre, has attracted plenty of publicity. It is easy to see why. The playwright is a great story in herself. She has ‘playboy’ model looks and figure, has a Doctorate, is a sex therapist, politics lecturer, author, and radio talkback relationship counselor. In the last federal election Dr Petersen ran against Tony Abbott in the seat of Warringah.

Petersen’s ‘Cup of Tea?’ was a minor work of political satire. The play was set around Parliament House in Canberra, and the main characters were a fictitious Prime Minister and his assistant. Straight away, the playwright established the dramatic convention that the entire political world was directed, stage managed and scripted, with politicians having performance coaches!

Actually, maybe it’s not so much of a convention. These days it’s probably not far from the truth, considering how smarmy politics has become! Nevertheless, the convention creates lots of comic and dramatic possibilities which the playwright has fun with. For example…the Prime Minister yelling at one of his party colleagues for stuffing up his lines…a couple of politicians suddenly dying with the PM saying, ‘this can’t happen, it’s not part of the script’.

‘Cup of Tea?’ ran for just over an hour without interval. Nicholas Pichard directed the work which was performed by an enthusiastic cast that included Lead Baulch, Matt Goodwin, Adrian Jarrett, Soren Jensen, Ben Seton and Kathleen Williamson. The performances conveyed the manufactured style of being that the playwright had in mind.

This was an entertaining play however it did feel very much like a workshop/ work in progress production, and it would be great to revisit if, and when, the work has been more fully realised.