'...If rumour is to be believed, Mr Coward wrote this in three days, wearing a flowered dressing-gown and working only before breakfast...'
First performed in 1925, this sparkling comedy of bad manners begins with the arrival of four guests, invited independently by different members of the bohemian Bliss family for a weekend at their country house. The promise of an idyllic and peaceful stay is quickly dashed as they are in turn ignored, embarrassed or humiliated and ultimately abandoned by their hosts who are far more engrossed in themselves and their own family disputes.
Take yourselves back to the beginning of summer for this 'deliciously heartless comedy'. Indulgence Theatre will offer its customary blend of gusto and panache and can definitely promise a flowered dressing-gown or two...
Director :- Keith Ramsay
Co-director :- Liz Lucas
Costumes :- Pauline Lancaster
The Cast
Judith Bliss :- Irene North
David Bliss :- Tim Bradford
Sorel Bliss :- Aggi Gunstone
Simon Bliss :- Daniel Davis
Myra Arundel :- Jo Hollingworth
Richard Greatham :- Richard Jones
Jackie Coryton :- Wendy Tenbeth
Sandy Tyrell :- Nick Peel
Clara :- Alice Kinloch
Reviews
Audience laps up party atmosphere
It was, one reflected afterwards, more like being a guest at a party than a member of an audience.
Perhaps it was the full house - itself a tribute to any amateur company in a large venue - the live piano music or the roseate glow of nostalgia, but even before Indulgence Theatre's production of Hay Fever got under way at the Drill Hall, the stage seemed set for something special.
And it was. In the hands of some of the city's most seasoned theatre veterans, Noel Coward's acerbic comedy of manners blossomed into an unabashed delight, perfectly cast and bringing out the best in all concerned.
Irene North gave a towering central performance as Judith Bliss, the matriarchal sun around which the other members of the Bliss family orbited, although it was also only one piece of a seamless ensemble showing in which everyone shone and none were eclipsed.
Her children were played by Aggi Gunstone and Daniel Davis - now nominated for the Olivier Award for Consummate Bickering - and her husband by Tim Bradford, while the rest of the sparkling cast comprised of their respective weekend visitors, Nick Peel, Jo Hollingworth, Wendy Tenbeth, and a perennially bemused Richard Jones, and their maid, Alice Kinloch.
Despite the need for two intervals for costume changes, the pace never flagged as the Blisses dished out their own brand of "hospitality" and manoeuvred their guests into increasingly hilarious situations, mostly intentional although Nick Peel's calm in the face of a snapped fork, also brought a spontaneous round of applause.
In the end, like the best parties, it was all over too soon. A superb evening.
Mike Lyon, Lincoln Chronicle, 10 November 2005
I was amazed when I pitched up at the Drill Hall in Lincoln last week to find tickets for Indulgence Theatre's Hay Fever had sold out
All that legwork distributing those eye-catching posters had obviously paid off.
I hung aroung until 7.30pm and they managed to squeeze us in - and I was very glad they did because the show was faultless.
Pacy, funny, beautiful to look at and perfectly played, it was one of the best things I have seen on any stage for several years. All the cast deserve credit but the show as stolen by a deliciously over-the-top performance by Irene North as the theatrical matriarch Judith Bliss.
An acquaintance of mine, a professor at the university, summed up the night when he gasped during the interval "I thought it was a professional show - I've only just found out they're amateurs!"
Jez Ashberry, Going Out Supplement Lincolnshire Echo, 10 November 2005
There's nothing to sniff at in a Noel Coward's laugh out loud classic
What a breath of fresh air.
Indulgence Theatre created such a perfectly pitched roller-coaster of laughs in performing Noel Coward's Hay Fever that for a critic the only disappointment is in that there was nothing to sniff at.
In their programme notes the Lincoln company remarks on the hope that their own enjoyment in producing a show is evident to the audience and in this case it was almost as tangible as each of the excellently portrayed characters.
Glamour, poise and sparkling wit were promised and they were served up by directors Liz Lucas and Keith Ramsay in spade fulls.
It is impossible to determine which of the eight principal characters stole the show as they all fought for that honour with some determination. But in fact it may have been pianist John Poutney who topped them all for Cowardesque extravagance.
On the face of it Tim Bradford brought a certain characteristic sobriety to the Bliss family but as the play progressed you realised how you too had been dragged in by his guile in manipulating his house guests as well as his kin during a chaotic weekend party.
Aggi Gunstone, Daniel Davis and Irene North surely brought something of themselves to their parts in the Bliss family as they were all so elegantly brilliant.
And then to the confused houseguests. Wendy Tenbeth, Richard Jones, Jo Hollingworth and Nick Peel were so individually fantastic that they captured perfectly the angst at being caught amid the family's mental and emotional barrage.
Costume, props and staging served only to heighten the apparent authenticity of the piece to the point that it was the audience who felt indulged by a company which deservedly played to a least one full house at Lincoln Drill Hall.
Jason Hippisley, Market Rasen Mail, 09 November 2005
"Plenty to laugh about"
Noel Coward's flair for shining wit and dialogue are bought to life with great comic delivery in the Indulgence Theatre's Hay Fever.
The show is a laugh-out-loud rendition of the 1920s classic, with Richard Jones' portrayal of a saucy smoker a particular gem.
The Bliss family find they have all invited guests down to their home for the same weekend and proceed to lead them on a merry dance.
Irene North as Judith Bliss is excellent with just the right amount of melodrama and mock-surprise at the reaction her behaviour elicits in others.
The rest of the cast also turned in strong performances with pianist John Pountney adding an extra sparkle.
Amy Woolford, Lincolnshire Echo, 05 November 2005
Our Next Production
To be announced!