Past productions

HAY FEVER

by Noël Coward

16 – 25 April 2026

This sparklingly light classic Coward comedy is celebrating its 100th year of continuous performance (somewhere in the world) in 2025. The Bliss family – Judith and David and their grown-up children Simon and Sorel – are all artistically inclined, selfish, bad mannered and prone to histrionics. One Saturday they each casually announce that they have invited a guest for the weekend. Each is furious and determined to make life as uncomfortable as possible for all but their own guest. The ensuing row succeeds in sending their terrified guests scuttling away by the first train the following morning, while the Bliss’s carry on amicably as if nothing has happened.

This amateur production of ‘Hay Fever’ was presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd on behalf of Samuel French Ltd. concordtheatricals.co.uk.

Cast

Photography by Chris Fenton

Review | April 2026 | Theo Spring

It is a tribute to the long-standing appeal of a play Noël Coward wrote in 1924 and which premiered in the West End in June 1925 that there wasn’t a spare seat in the Miller Theatre on the night I went. The audience were not disappointed. The curtain rose to reveal Jenny Kingman’s stunning country house set, with all its clever nods to the era in the décor and a beautiful garden, tantalizingly glimpsed through the French windows – congratulations to the set painting team.

The opening discussion between Sorel and Simon Bliss, the grown-up children of the Bliss family, set the tone of how the Bliss family operates and begins the evolving revelation of just how many guests have been invited for the weekend. Just which guest would finally be sleeping in the Japanese Room and who would have the discomfort of spending the night in Little Hell, with all its heating pipes and gurgles?

Suzie Voce as Sorel made her mark in this dialogue, strongly defending her right to invite whomsoever she chose, in this instance a recent acquaintance Richard Greatham, whilst Chris Sharrock as Simon cut a dashing figure as he revealed he had invited Myra Arundel for the weekend. Both characterisations here captured the long-established banter and teasing from childhood as they each revealed their unorthodox upbringing due, in the main, to their mother’s theatrical career. The role of that mother, Judith Bliss, is a gift of a part with its requirement to over-act in many different situations and here Nicky Trimmer made the most of every opportunity so to do. Judith’s invitee was Sandy Tyrell with whom an attraction had been recently formed. Will Howells delivered a Sandy full of uncertainty as to how to proceed and, in Act II, his fluster after being discovered kissing Sorel in the library was very amusing.

With three house guests revealed it is Judith’s husband David – a novelist writing The Sinful Women – who, as he comes down from his study to find his required cup of tea, throws out the information that he has invited “a sweet little flapper” for the weekend. This young lady turns out to be Jackie Coryton whose youth, angst, discomfort and anxiety were so well demonstrated by Flora Blissett, who gave Jackie a gawky stance a general awe of both her surroundings and the clever company she finds herself in, and was a joy to watch.

One of Judith’s many opportunities for over-acting came in the very entertaining and carefully choreographed mild seduction scene where she turned her charms on Sorel’s ‘date’ Richard, given some really excellent comedy by Jonathan Tull. Both he and Nicky Trimmer, delivering Judith’s careful slow encroachment into his space, was first-rate. Delightfully directed and full of humour.

Felicity Westmacott, played Myra Arundel – Simon’s ‘date’, giving her a strong stand-offishness at his romantic approaches. She had to contend with similar advances from David Bliss, played with verve by Michael Cooke. Their brief intrigue was a wonderful sequence of one-liners, batting back and forth – she constantly putting him down and he trying hard to win her over.

Woven throughout the play, the housekeeper, Clara, made her annoyance felt with all the unannounced changes which the Bliss family imposed upon her, with Janet Edden making her disquiet with those impositions frankly felt, whist managing to still show Clara’s definite affection for the whole family.

Costumes by Sue Brandon were both elegant and apt, with the flapper dresses much in evidence, although Sorel’s day dress could have been dressed down a little. Beautiful gowns clothed the games evening and Judith’s lovely hat in Act I was a picture. Wigs were all appropriately dressed for the times of day.

It was a joy to revisit Hay Fever once again and to appreciate its clever script and the opportunity, taken in full in this production, to create Coward’s multi-facetted characters once more. The credit for this lay fully in the hands of the skilled director Suzi Whittle – herself very familiar with the play having played the demanding role of Judith herself, in times past. Her excellent casting – everyone just right, and her ability to bring out the nuance of every awkward and joyous situation made for a hugely successful production and one, I would suggest, with which Coward himself would have been immensely pleased.