A starry, stylish revival of Noël Coward’s classic comedy of bad manners
⭐⭐⭐
Written by Noël Coward and first performed in 1925, Hay Fever has become one of his best-known comedies of bad manners. More than a century later, it returns to the West End for the first time since the 2015 revival at the Duke of York’s Theatre, which starred Felicity Kendal as Judith Bliss.
This time it arrives at Wyndham’s Theatre with a suitably starry cast, led by (traitor) Richard E. Grant and Christine Baranski, who makes her West End debut.
What’s it about?
Set in the Bliss family’s country house, Hay Fever is a classic farce built around a wonderfully simple premise: each of the four members of the Bliss family has independently invited someone to stay for the weekend — without telling anyone else.
What follows is a weekend of romantic entanglements, misunderstandings, changing allegiances and increasingly uncomfortable house guests, all presided over by a family seemingly oblivious to the chaos they create around them.
It’s certainly a play of its time. There are some very funny moments, but it can also be difficult to relate to these rather self-centred characters and their behaviour.
What we loved
The set is gorgeous. Frankie Bradshaw has created the interior of the Bliss family’s country house, complete with double French doors opening onto the garden and a large staircase heading upstairs. It’s exactly the type of place you’d love to be invited to for the weekend — although perhaps not with the Bliss family in residence.
The costumes are equally stunning: florals, bright stripes, elegant hats and long woollen socks — exactly what you want from this world. But it’s the eveningwear that really delivers. Christine Baranski looks glorious in a gold jumpsuit with a sequinned top, while Richard E. Grant cuts an elegant figure in black tie. The costumes add enormously to the glamour and theatricality of the Bliss family.
Christine Baranski is in her element as the theatrical matriarch Judith Bliss. Full of drama and chaos, she sweeps through the Bliss household with glamour, dramatic flourishes and melodrama wherever she goes. Baranski seems to relish Judith’s theatricality, making even the smallest moment feel like a performance. She is wonderfully suited to a character for whom life itself is another stage and it is a real treat to finally see her in the West End.
Grant is his usual wonderfully dishevelled self, bringing a very British quality to David Bliss. Lucy Karczewski, playing Jackie, is superb — completely deadpan and responsible for some of the funniest moments of the evening. Charles Edwards is also adorable as diplomat Richard Greatham — all uptight and uncomfortable, desperately trying to remain terribly polite while the increasingly bizarre events unfold around him.
This is a play that is all about timing — from the quick quips to the awkward silences — and this cast, under director Emily Burns, gets it right.
The first half of Act Two is the strongest part of the production, as the eight characters attempt a parlour game and there’s a wonderful swapping around of who’s with whom. It’s here that the farce really comes alive, with the combination of pace, timing and escalating confusion delivering some of the biggest laughs.
Anything we’d change?
As the play moves towards its conclusion, the pace and humour slow again. While there are plenty of entertaining moments, the characters are deliberately self-absorbed and rather ridiculous, and spending an entire evening in their company can become a little tiresome.
Perhaps that is part of Coward’s point, but it also means that, despite the wonderful production surrounding it, the play itself doesn’t always feel particularly fresh or relatable more than 100 years after it was written.
Verdict
There’s plenty to enjoy in this beautifully staged revival, from the gorgeous country-house set and costumes to a starry cast who understand the importance of Coward’s comic timing.
Hay Fever remains very much a play of its time and its collection of self-centred characters eventually wears a little thin. But it’s stylish, beautifully performed and, when the farce hits its stride, very funny.
An enjoyable evening, albeit a little tiresome by the end.
Who created it?
Writer: Noël Coward
Director: Emily Burns
Set & Costume Designer: Frankie Bradshaw
Lighting Designer: Oliver Fenwick
Sound Designer: Tingying Dong