HUMAN china dolls taking tea in a shop window gave York a taste of the unexpected.

Former St John College drama students Hellen Ward, 24, and Dorothy Fenwick, 22, put on the unusual street performance in Gillygate.

"It's a piece of theatre called 'a happening'," said Dorothy.

"It's something unusual happening in a normal place, like putting a great big block of ice in a pedestrian zone so that people walk past it."

The day-long show was called Cries Real Tears - a favoured slogan of manufacturers advertising dolls that can be filled with water so they weep.

It was intended to illustrate the delicate drama of childhood in a new way - with money raised from donations, about £35, going to the NSPCC.

The pair transformed themselves as life-size dolls by dressing up in overblown, frilly 1980s bridesmaid dresses, and converting the empty shop into a giant dolls house.

A giant toybox, feathers and hearts were all intended to add to the nostalgic feel.

"We wanted to bring out issues of childhood, such as abuse, without being preachy about it. Just raising issues in a non-attacking kind of way," said Dorothy.

"When you're a little girl, your parents dress you up as a doll. We wanted to make it all soppy in Barbie pink.

"It's not in-your-face. It's just a little piece about childhood that will help out other kids.

"We chose the NSPCC because we came up with the idea of having a dolls house, and they did seem to be the most appropriate charity for our performance."

Dorothy and Helen are part of a new production company called Pip Theatre, which hopes to put on other experimental works in York. Two other colleagues were helping them backstage for the show.

Cries Real Tears was their first performance, with their temporary 'stage' loaned free by new student digs set-up One-to-One Student Accommodation.

"We're quite experimental," said Dorothy. "We're thinking about doing something like live art in a gallery. But we're seeing what we can do with this one."

Updated: 10:03 Wednesday, July 27, 2005