‘Hay Fever’ prompts a laughable reaction

Audiences can get in a little prep work for Thanksgiving with the next UTC Theatre Company production. “Hay Fever,” producers say, is the ultimate family holiday gone wrong.

Noel Coward’s comedic masterpiece has left audiences roaring since it was first produced in 1925. The farce revolves around the antics of celebrated actress Judith Bliss, her novelist husband David and their two bohemian children, Simon and Sorel. Each of the Blisses invites a guest to join them at their family country home for the weekend without telling the others. What was meant to be a relaxing weekend away turns into a family feud that leaves the guests fearing for their sanity.

“Hyper-creative people live by their own rules. That’s what makes them wonderful, but it’s also what can perplex the people around them,” explains director Steve Ray. “Coward is having fun with this by trapping four ‘normal’ people in a country cottage with the Blisses, a celebrated family of artists. In the mayhem that ensues, what emerges is a comedy of bad manners.”

There’s also something deeper at work, Ray says.

“The play exposes the games people play in relationships,” he says. “Coward’s insight into this is hilarious. I think we will all recognize awkward and tender moments that we’ve all experienced — plus some embarrassing ones.”

Cast members are Cierra Dolata, Josiah Motok, Ellie Smoak, Nick Sterling, Katey Dailey, Rachel Shannon, Mason DeGroot, Skylar Ramsey and Mark Elich.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Cierra Dolata, left, is Judith Bliss and Mark Elich is Sandy Tyrell in the UTC Theatre production of “Hay Fever.”