Hay Fever

Nöel Coward’s rather slight Hay Fever is a rather delicious meringue of a play, pretty to look at and amusing enough at the time, but ultimately not as satisfying as Design For Living or Private Lives which, over the years, have retained a poignancy that this simply does not. That said, this cast (and setting) certainly make for an entertaining evening.

A bickering bohemian family play host to a number of guests, possibly in the hope of bringing some semblance of normality to their lives. Of course it fails, as they are so deeply entrenched in … well, in themselves. Michael Simkins is marvellous as the straight-laced diplomatist Greatham, Alice-Orr Ewing brattish as Sorel Bliss, and Mossie Smith plays ex-dresser now housekeeper Clara with a real sense of dismissive respect for society, and of class injustice.

It is Felicity Kendal, though, who steals the show with a delightful performance as egotistical retired actress Judith Bliss. From tiny gestures and facial ticks to sweeping physical comedy, Kendal proves that she still has that impeccable comic timing that made her a star and, in a dessert that is all sugar, she is the rich filling that lives on, like bitter sweet cherries soaked in brandy.

Theatre Royal Brighton, 22 September 2014

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