Town Players' HAY FEVER to Open June 26

Town Players continues its 80th-anniversary season with a play about theater itself: Noël Coward's Hay Fever, opening June 26.

Oftentimes, plays are written about obnoxious guests. HAY FEVER is an exception to that rule, as the action surrounds the antics of nightmare hosts. Can a famous leading lady really enjoy "rustication?" Is there such a thing as "retirement from the stage?" Four startled guests find they are a test case for these questions.

The overly theatrical Bliss family is hosting a house party at their country estate. Stage star Judith Bliss, her novelist husband David, and their two grown children have each invited guests for the weekend. The worry isn't that visitors will overstay their welcome - it's that they might not make it through breakfast the next morning, as the Blisses indulge in their peculiar brand of artistic eccentricities, dragging their guests into a riotous whirlwind of flirtation and melodrama.

This quintessentially "British" 1925 comedy of manners was actually based on Coward's weekend at the country home of mercurial American actress Laurette Taylor and her family.

Directed by Ruth Anne Baumgartner of Fairfield, the cast includes the talents of Sam Bass (Brookfield), Sheri Bresson (Bethel), Benjamin de Seingalt (Sandy Hook), Marguerite Foster (Torrington), Timothy Huber (Danbury), Laurel Lettieri (Norwalk), Rob Pawlikowski (Roxbury), Kate Truini (Roxbury), and Tess Stofko (Sandy Hook). The production crew includes producer Pam Meister (Newtown), production associate Mary Poile (Ridgefield), set designer Alexander Kulcsar (Fairfield), costuming assistant Mary Kulcsar (Fairfield), lighting designer Nick Kaye (Bethel), booth operator Ward Whipple (Stratford), and stage manager Sarah Desrosiers (Newtown).

HAY FEVER runs June 26 - July 18. Curtain times are 8 PM Fridays and Saturdays, with 2 PM Sunday matinees on June 28 & July 12. Tickets are $22; $18 for matinee performances.

Reservations may be made by calling the box office at 203-270-9144 or by sending an email to reservations@newtownplayers.org. Online ticketing is also available. For further information, visit www.newtownplayers.org or email info@newtownplayers.org.

Town Players' Little Theatre is a community theater, currently in its 80th anniversary season, located on 18 Orchard Hill Road, just off Route 25 (a mile north of the Sand Hill Plaza) in Newtown, Conn.

Photo Credit: Michael Stanley