Noel Coward’s Hay Fever is a sparkling comedy of bad manners set in the Bliss household. Judith Bliss (Christine Baranski) is a doyen of the stage, impeccably if flamboyantly dressed and landing ice barbs with every remark.
Her husband David (Richard E Grant) spends his time upstairs in his study, writing his novel The Sinful Woman. Their children Sorel (Ophelia Lovibond) and Simon (Will Close) are spoilt, self-absorbed and strange.
We quickly hear that each family member has invited a guest for the weekend. This is a household that plays games, behaves badly, and drives everyone to distraction.
Into this household of huge egos step four unsuspecting victims. Myra (Nancy Carroll) and Richard (Charles Edwards) are strong supporting characters with their reactions alone worth the price of admission.
Edwards’ awkward small talk with the endearingly foolish Jackie (Lucy Karczewski, showing a versatile comedy flair very different to last year’s Stereophonic) is hilarious. Carroll’s scene with Grant where admiration turns to abject horror is carefully judged and equally amusing.
Grant is certainly over-emphasising the silliness here, but it works, while Close’s similar physical characteristics give their performances a ‘like father, like son’ feel. Both are utterly dreadful characters.
It will be Baranski’s West End debut that captures most scrutiny – affecting a British accent that gives Judith an additional layer of drama and guile, she makes her imperious, loud and unbearable.
While chasing her young protege Sonny (Ash Tyrell), she is relentless, and with her children she is dismissive and often cruel. Sorel is her mother’s daughter, only more observant. She has the measure of every visitor as soon as they step through the door.
As Clara, Judith’s dresser turned housekeeper, Jo McInnes makes the most of a handful of scenes, conveying with her walk the monotony and irritation of managing this house.
Director Emily Burns has left this 1924 play to speak for itself. Unlike the Present Laughter currently on tour, there is no modernisation or attempts to switch the focus. She trusts the script to make us laugh, and it does.
Frankie Bradshaw’s set and costumes are period-perfect and delightful, with Judith’s beloved garden almost bursting into the room and regular streams of rain running down the large windows.
Tingying Dong’s sound and Oliver Fenwick’s lighting offer a stylish indication of time passing over a fraught weekend, while the little touches in props and gestures offer their own distraction.
This production of Hay Fever is very good indeed. It sends up the artifice of the theatre brilliantly – something Coward did well – while juggling the ridiculous family dynamics with style, clarity, and confidence.
4 stars.
Hay Fever continues at Wyndham’s Theatre until 12 Dec.
Photo credit: Marc Brenner