Theatre Britain, producer of British theatre in Dallas, just completed their production of Noel Coward's raucous comedy, Hay Fever, as the first show of their 2005-06 season. A theatrical satire, Hay Fever was first produced in London in 1925 and ran for over a year. Coward wrote the play in only three days and based it on the experiences he encountered at the home of actress Laurette Taylor and her husband Marley Manners.
The upper class Bliss family is headed by David (Bob Wasinger) and his flamboyant actress wife, Judith (Elly Lindsay). The Bliss household also includes their very spoiled and independent young adult progeny, Simon (John de los Santos) and Sorel (Jennifer Knight) and their housekeeper, Clara (Lisa Anne Haram).
Each of the four Blisses has invited a guest to their home in Cookham for the weekend without informing any of the others. David's guest is a young innocent, Jackie Coryton (Francesca Olson). Judith has invited a much younger admirer, Sandy Tyrell (David Wilson-Brown). Simon's guest is the very vampish and sophisticated slightly older woman, Myra Arundel (Lynn Blackburn), and Sorel's guest is the much older Richard Greatham (Spencer Prokop).
Each member of the Bliss household seems to be in his/her own little world, largely ignoring the guests. As Sorel says: "We're an independent family and entertain rather separately." In one of the rare times when the entire entourage assembles to play a word game - which quickly falls apart - Judith opines: "We should limit our conversations to social (concerns) and not say anything intelligent." Coward was ever the master at social satire.
The high jinks that occur among this unlikely assortment of zanies will keep you chuckling throughout the play. As the guests all decide to make a hasty retreat, nobody in the Bliss household even notices.
With a uniformly talented cast and spot-on British accents, this production is pure delight. Coward had a knack for creating recognizable characters and then skewering their foibles. Ably directed by Robin Armstrong, who also executed the delightful costumes, with a fabulous set by Darryl Clement, this Hay Fever is nothing to sneeze at.
