BWW Reviews: HAY FEVER, Duke of York's Theatre, May 11 2015

Lindsay Posner's latest West End transfer is Noel Coward's 1924 comedy Hay Fever which is playing at the Duke of York's Theatre, following a run at the Theatre Royal, Bath. Starring Felicity Kendal, Hay Fever sees each member of the Bliss family (made up of retired actress Judith, her husband and two adult children) invite a guest to their home for the weekend resulting in a weekend full of chaos and drama.

Judith is quickly becoming disillusioned with life in the country and soon announces to her children that she wants to go back to the London stage. Her husband David (Simon Shepherd) is a writer and spends most of his time upstairs in his study away from his wife and children, only reappearing for tea breaks and dinner. Daughter Sorel (Alice Orr-Ewing) and son Simon (Edward Franklin) have each invited diplomat Richard (Michael Simkins) and man-eater Myra (Sara Stewart) while young and naïve Jackie (Celeste Dodwell) is a guest of David and Julia's simpering admirer Sandy (Edward Killingback) also visits for the weekend.

The production's first half is slow moving, and the play only gathers pace towards the end as all of the guests wonder what they've let themselves in for by agreeing to stay for the weekend. Kendal is superb in this role as fluffy, over the top Judith and although she is retired, Judith manages to turn everyday occurrences into a theatrical drama, much to the annoyance of their weekend guests. Stewart and Simkins as two of the guests get some of the biggest laughs and offer great performances. Unfortunately a number of jokes do fall flat and although there are some good performances, the production isn't as funny as it ought to be.

Photo Credit: Nobby Clark

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