'Tea with the Dames' Features No Tea But Offers Some Priceless Insights

If you’ve ever daydreamed about sitting down for a heartfelt chat and a cup of tea with a few of Britain’s most legendary living actresses, Tea with the Dames is your dream come true. Well almost,  since they never actually drink tea in this documentary (it was titled Nothing Like a Dame in the U.K.) and of course you have to imagine you’re at the table. Oh, the magic of the movies!

I got on a wait list for the DVD from my library a few months before its release. So when it finally arrived last week, my anticipation got the best of me and I watched it immediately. The film opens with some amusing vocal warm up exercises and these words:

“From time to time four old friends, all extraordinary actresses, meet up in the English countryside to gossip, to remember and to laugh. This time they let the cameras in.”

Dames Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright and Maggie Smith make up this quartet of revered and talented women. All smartly dressed in navy, these octogenarians gather at the country home that Dame Joan shared with her husband Sir Laurence Oliver. Prompted by questions asked off-screen by director Roger Michell, the dames talk straightforwardly and sometimes irreverently about their professional experiences as well as their more personal thoughts on aging and family. What stands out most is the genuine affection and friendship between these women who have shared stages, sets and the unusual experience of living most of their lives in the spotlight.

When asked to reflect on receiving their DBE’s (Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) they each seemed pleased to have been so honored. Dame Maggie, in particular, mentioned being happy her father was alive to see her receive her title since it recognizes those who helped you along the way as much as the individual receiving the medal.