05 Sep 2024
Hay Fever, one of Noel Coward’s most enduring works, is set to open the Company of Ten’s 90th season later this month.
The play is a masterful comedy of manners that explores the eccentricities of the Bliss family—a group of artistic, self-absorbed individuals whose theatrical personalities turn a quiet weekend in the country into a whirlwind of misunderstandings and romantic entanglements. When each family member invites a guest to stay, the stage is set for an uproarious clash of egos, miscommunication and comic mischief.
Director Alison Wright said: “It’s fabulous to open the Company of Ten’s 90th season with the Coward classic Hay Fever celebrating its hundredth year!
“The play follows the antics of the eccentric Bliss family and their hapless weekend guests. Coward neatly described it as ‘a light comedy in three acts’ and we’re having tremendous fun with it.
“Hay Fever is all about style — it’s beautifully crafted with the style and wit of Coward’s exquisite writing complementing the style of our 1925 country-house setting, costume and props. We’re going to do it in style!”
Ben Fricke, playing David Bliss, added: “Hay Fever is the story of the weekend house party from hell. Just as you never bet against the house in a casino, you should never bet against the household in Hay Fever. You’re likely to lose your shirt, or skirt in a series of bizarre, bewildering and increasingly ridiculous seduction scenes.”
Performances take place on the Abbey Theatre main stage from September 13-14 at 8pm, matinee on September 15 at 2.30pm, and from September 17-21 at 8pm.
To book tickets please go to www.abbeytheatre.org.uk or call the box office on 01727 857861.
