Hay Fever – The Mill at Sonning

Writer: Noel Coward

Director: Tam Williams

Noel Coward’s Hay Fever has been a staple of British theatre since it premiered back in 1924. It’s a farcical comedy of manners centred around a weekend at the home of the outlandish and self-absorbed Bliss Family. Each of the family has invited a guest to stay for the weekend without the knowledge of the other members or the put-upon housekeeper, Clara.

The dramatic matriarch, retired actress Judith Bliss (Issy Van Randwyck), has invited a young amorous male fan (Daniel Fraser). Her daughter, Sorel (Emily Paynes) has invited a more mature gentleman guest (Darrell Brockis) while her brother (William Pennington) has asked his potential love interest (Aretha Ayeh). To round things off the father (Nick Waring), an aspirational author, has invited a young flapper girl (Beth Lilly) to help with his latest book.

The play itself is a mixed bag. Whilst it’s loaded with Coward’s turns-of-phrase and snappy dialogue, it’s not his strongest work. There’s really no plot to talk of and none of the flimsily created characters does enough to elicit any sort of rapport or engagement with the audience. They seem like vacuous vessels to spew out a host of Coward’s one-liners.

As such it is funny, overall, but requires much of the cast to make the play work. And here, this production is only partially successful. There are laughs in the play but nowhere near as many as you’d expect. The performances, whilst exuberant, miss the mark. The ensemble plays everything at maximum, so delivering none of the nuances that you need with such text. In one scene Mother Bliss and her children are play-acting a scene from a film. It’s supposed to be an over-the-top enactment of the scene, but here it barely differs from the acting throughout the show.

The direction is rather flat. It lacks pace, especially as the action shifts from one group of characters to another. At one point, it actually feels boring, which is bad enough in any play, but unforgivable in a farce. By Coward’s own admission, it’s lacking in the witticisms department, but the real annoyance in Hay Fever is its pointlessness. The family are self-obsessed and rude. Their guests come and then leave. The family get on with their life. That’s it.

Runs until 13 May 2023