Hay Fever

Synopsis

Classic comedy of bad manners about a flamboyant family. The characters of Judith and David Bliss were based on real life friends of the playwright, American actress Laurette Taylor and her husband Hartley Manners. The eccentric couple were renowned for their table manners, surprised guests would often endure shrill arguments - waged entirely among the family - which often ended with them storming out of the room, leaving their bewildered guests to make what they could of the rest of the evening.

Our Review:

8 July 2008

Some plays are revived endlessly and yet, apart from filling theatres with their usual demographic, they seem to do nothing new with the text itself. You can understand why, as the target audience go home pleased as punch, but, as typified by the Royal Exchange's current production of Noel Coward's Hay Fever, converts will likely leave unsatisfied.

Unlike Coward's brilliantly brittle comedy Private Lives, Hay Fever is uneven in tone and contains several dull scenes. But this is certainly not the fault of the cast, who do their level best to give the play extra oomph when required in Greg Hersov's production.

The wonderful Belinda Lang gives a splendidly over the top performance as retired actress Judith Bliss. I say retired because this is where most of the humour comes from as this Margot Ledbetter-style character 'acts' in everyday life, as if partaking in a melodrama of epic proportions. T...

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