Isn’t this Bliss?
West End Productions coming down with a case of ‘Hay Fever’
This version of “Hay Fever” is inspired by much more than seasonal allergies. In Noël Coward’s comedy, each of the four member of the Bliss family, without consulting the others, has invited a weekend guest. Tea is served to an awkward silence until chaos ensues.
The great British playwright penned his farcical play “Hay Fever” in 1924.
West End Productions will open their version of the show on Thursday, May 5, at the North Fourth Art Center. “Hay Fever” runs through May 15. The company concentrates on plays by English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh playwrights.
“We haven’t done a Noël Coward play and he’s one of the best, and he’s so funny and so witty and so hilarious,” said artistic director, founder and actor Colleen Neary McClure. “There’s so much drama and confusion,” she continued. “The Bliss family are not only eccentric, but they’re crazy.” Mario Cabrera directs. David and Judith Bliss serve as the hosts from hell, a pair of free-thinking narcissists trapped in a love-hate relationship with their adult children Simon and Sorel. The quartet plays a callous game of sexual one-upmanship using their hapless houseguests as disposable pawns.
The self-centered behavior of the hosts finally drives their guests to flee while the Blisses are so engaged in a family row that they do not notice their visitors’ furtive departure.
Neary McClure plays Judith, a retired actress preparing for a comeback, acting out melodramatic passages with over-acting emoting to her confused guests.
Although well-regarded in Britain, “Hay Fever” is rarely produced in the U.S.
“It’s one of his funniest plays,” Neary McClure said. “But it doesn’t sell (as well) to the vast population in the States as ‘Private Lives.’ ”
Neary McClure boasts 40 years of experience in professional theater, film and theater education. She is a member of British Actors’ Equity and Screen Actors Guild, and eligible for the Actors’ Equity Association. She has directed and produced numerous productions and films in England and the United States, and has also performed extensively in London’s West End, the United Kingdom and stages across America.