Imagine that (assuming you’d have the house to yourself) you invited someone round for a private weekend of food, wine and canoodling…
…only to discover that the rest of your family had had the exact same idea. What would you do?
This is the question that opens Noel Coward’s 1924 play “Hay Fever”, performed by The Studio Theatre Company at The Wilde Theatre in South Hill Park Arts Centre.
Based in a country house in Cookham, by the River Thames, retired star actress Judith Bliss (Auriole Wells) bemoans her lack of fan mail. Perhaps a visit from her young admirer, the sporty Sandy Tyrell (James Warriner-Gallyer) will lift her spirit?
Yet when she shares the news with her grown children Simon (Luke Burton) and Sorel (Tia Dalton-Short), it transpires that they’ve also invited paramours of their own – vampish Myra Arundel (Nadia Strilciw) and diplomat Richard Greatham (David Stacey).
Perhaps even more shocking than the fact that her grown children are still living at home – so to does her somewhat unexpected husband, the novelist David Bliss (Ian Crump)…who’s also invited flapper Jackie Coryton (Rebekah Glass).
How will their guests react to this bizarre turn of events? Who gets to sleep in the hallowed “Japanese Room”?? Will housekeeper Clara (Rebecca Roberts) be able to feed everyone???
Such are the whimsical concerns of a classic Noel Coward play. True to his works, this isn’t a play that asks difficult and dreadful philosophical questions. Rather, it’s the theatrical equivalent of a glass of Pimms on a summer day – something light, fizzy and guaranteed to make you smile.
As such (and with all the action taking place in the Bliss’s living room) the play relies entirely on the actors’ and actresses’ ability to humourously translate the witty script onto the stage.
The cast acquit themselves well, with many clearly taking delight in the sparkling dialogue and bringing the characters to life with their bodies and facial expressions as much as they do with their words.
Yet underneath the froth, there are deeper questions within the play. What sort of marriage permits its partners to bring home side-crushes? To what extent are these paramours actual objects of desire, as opposed to pawns designed to elicit a jealous reaction from family members? Are the Bliss’s even aware that their guests have feelings?
While this isn’t “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (a play with a similar premise) and it doesn’t delve too deeply into these murky undercurrents, they add some depth to an otherwise light-hearted story.
With a simple yet striking set design, assured direction from Luke Burton, and one of the funniest endings for a drawing room play, this is heartily recommended for fans of Oscar Wilde and Downton Abbey.
“Hay Fever” runs until the 24th September in The Wilde Theatre at South Hill Park Arts Centre. Tickets are available at https://www.southhillpark.org.uk/whats-on/shows-events/
