Hay Fever, Duke of York's Theatre

Noël Coward's delightfully light comedy of manners about playing the hostess feels as fresh now as when it premiered in 1925. Turning the popular theme of a difficult houseguest on its head, Hay Fever makes farcical fun out of eccentric hosts and their tormented house guests. Inspired by a house party with real life luvvies playwright Hartley Manners and his actress wife Laurette Taylor, Coward penned the play in just three days. The taut structure and fast-pace reflects this, with all the action confined to one weekend to hilariously claustrobohic effect.
Hay Fever is a fizzing example of the English comic tradition and this production more than does it justice, winning a cluster of glowing reviews when it opened at Theatre Royal Bath last summer. Director Lindsay Posner's revival wisely sticks very close to Coward's original comic direction. The situational humour and comic timing was in very capable hands with a sting cast headed by star of The Archers and The Good Life Felicity Kendal. She impressed the critics as the melodramatic actress turned country housewife Judith Bliss and will be reprising the role for the Hay Fever London run.