25 Sep 2024
Deborah Heath is blown away by the Company of Ten’s Noel Coward comedy…
‘Hay Fever’ is the opening production in Company of Ten’s 90th season and I applaud their choice. Regular readers will know I am a Noel Coward fan and do not share the view held by some that his “talent to amuse” doesn’t create interesting or
worthy theatre. ‘Hay Fever’ it has to be said isn’t particularly deep but it is very, very funny; a well observed set of complex character studies and a recognisable situation.
Haven’t we all been made to feel uncomfortable as a house guest from time to time? Well, Coward’s witty script will be cathartic so please give it a try.
Noel Coward wrote ‘Hay Fever’ after staying with actress Laurette Taylor and her writer husband Hartley Manners. It would seem that manners are the key to this inspiration in fact because Coward’s hosts didn’t have any!
Coward and other guests had been either ignored or subjected to witnessing eccentric or extreme behaviour.
Presumably he wrote ‘Hay Fever’ as a form of therapy; the hosts are Judith and David Bliss, also an actress and writer.
Both are obsessed with their own careers, to the extent that they sometimes aren’t able to separate fiction from reality, treating their house gusts like characters in a play. Their children, spoilt and rude, aren’t much better although daughter Sorel (perfectly played by Grace Carson) decides at the beginning of the play to better herself and be a good hostess. The resolve doesn’t last long.
Each of the Bliss family discover they have invited a special guest to stay for the weekend and all in the Japanese room! What follows is the portrayal of an extremely uncomfortable 24 hours which the host family seem blissfully unaware of.
This production opened energetically with pleasing high-spirited sibling banter between Sorel (Grace Carson) and Simon (Chris Vincent) who continued to nail their relationship throughout.
Continuing with the Bliss family themselves, Celia Roberts’ physicality as mother Judith was pleasing and Ben Fricke portrayed father David‘s grumpiness well. Dora, the long-suffering maid was played with stoical humour by Shelley Bacall. Their guests, utterly bewildered by the goings-on of the quirky and downright rude family were the audience’s point of identification. It is very important to direct this effectively to strike the right balance of sympathy and humour and all four of them achieved this with aplomb under the careful eye of director Alison Wright.
Due to his great stage presence, I was shocked to see that Harrison Huntley as Sandy had only appeared in one play before; let’s hope that he will go on to appear in many more CoT shows! Sarah Hudson as Myra was also a joy to watch; she wore her costumes like a model from the House of Elliot and had great vocal security. I loved Clive Pullan’s smooth self-assuredness as Richard Grantham; there was something of the David Niven about him. Amy Wedgewood gave us a very cute Jackie Coryton who did a particularly good job in the parlour game scene. Haven’t we all been utterly confused by the rules of a party game from time to time?
CoT have always been able to boast a professional level of design. In terms of the set, I applaud the thin windows and turning staircase which gave the action a wider context. I see that Alison Wright designed as well as directed the show which would explain how the cast were so at one with the set. Lighting and sound were strong and Elizabeth Pratt’s costumes were exquisite. There was one slightly odd dress that seemed to have been pieced together but otherwise the ladies’ costumes transported the audience back to the twenties with their sparkles and the gentlemen’s with their smart sophistication. Even Simon’s “dirty” flannels looked suave!
This production of ‘Hay Fever’ had a strong impact because the main components worked together so well. Design transported us to another age, characters were well-presented, and the script is simply brilliant. I saw the play very early in its run and while there was sometimes a little less pace than Coward’s script needed, I feel confident that the energy levels will be fine going forward. It is a brilliant play in the hands of some strong actors and a director who has obviously given time for pleasing character realisation in the rehearsal process.
Photos by Jonathan Schick.
