Hay Fever. To 15 May

Basingstoke

HAY FEVER
by Noel Coward

Haymarket Theatre To 15 May 2004.
Mon-Sat 7:45pm Mat 15 May 2pm
Audio-Described 15 May 2pm (pre-show Touch Tour available)
Runs 2hr 5min One Interval

TICKETS 01256 465566
www.haymarket.org.uk
Review Mark Courtice: 4 May 2004

A grim week end.An unfortunate set of people are invited to stay at the country house of the Bliss family. Each member of the family with sublime (and entirely typical) lack of thought for others has invited someone to stay, and a hellish week end is now in store for all.

In Robin Herford's sprightly production we are greeted with 20s music and a set of one of those strange rooms (that only seem to appear on stage) which is combined hall/diningroom/drawing room with staircase and landing. Nothing that happens after this moves us away from this far off time, and unrealistic place.

Noel Coward's comedy of bad manners is an unpleasant story of unpleasant people and to find it funny demands a great deal of a modern audience. Not only is Judith Bliss an actress of a type we no longer have, appearing in types of play we no longer watch, but the rest of her ghastly family are equally detached from a reality we might know. The jokes, therefore, tend to fall flat and at 2 hours this seems like a very long week end.

The company are clever in trying to make this tosh work. You can relish Terry Booth's baffled rectitude, and Karen Ascoe is splendidly tough and bitchy, telling like it is with clarity and vim. Rufus Wright's Sandy, bemused by the upside down world that surrounds him is fun too. The whole company make the most of the big moment when the family slips into overdone melodrama as they segue into Judith Bliss's last big hit.

Agile and energetic, Herford's production uses space with style and impeccable timing. Elroy Ashmore's set does all that is needed without reflecting his director's verve.

As the guests leave, creeping downstairs while the frightful Blisses continue to argue on we remind ourselves that if only they had done this 2 hours ago, we could have all gone home too, and missed what Simon warned us at the beginning was to be the blackest Saturday to Monday we have ever spent.

Judith Bliss: Lesley Meade
David Bliss: Michael Hadley
Sorel Bliss: Sarah Miller
Simon Bliss: Dominic Marsh
Myra Arundel: Karen Ascoe
Richard Greatham: Terence Booth
Jackie Coryton: Catherine Skinner
Sandy Tyrell: Rufus Wright
Clara: Judy Wilson
(Isn't it somehow typical that everyone has surname except the servant?)

Director: Robin Herford
Designer: Elroy Ashmore
Lighting: Simon Hutchings

2004-05-14 01:30:56