[NEohioPAL]Berko review: HAY FEVER (Great Lakes Theater Festival)

[Roy Berko]

Delightful ‘HAY FEVER’ at Great Lakes Theater Festival

Roy Berko
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--
Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	


Charles Fee, producing artistic director of the Great
Lakes Theater Festival, loves farce.  He relishes
double-takes, over exaggeration and bigger than life
situations.   Noel Coward’s ‘HAY FEVER, now on stage
at GLTF, was seemingly written for Fee to direct! 
It’s a script with no end of hysterics, directed by a
man who breathes life into every possible hysterical
moment.

‘HAY FEVER’ has been described as a comedy of bad
manners.   And that’s exactly what it is.  The
Blisses, who live in the English country side, give
new meaning to the words, “dysfunctional family,” and
all who come within their wild world get swept into
the catacomb of zaniness.   This group lives a life
that is anything but bliss.

Noel Coward’s plays epitomize the sophisticated wit of
the era between the two world wars.  ‘HAY FEVER’
epitomizes the witty style and forked tongue of the
English master of farce.  Its 1925 opening was met
with raves and established Coward as a major
playwright.  A 2006 revival of the show in London
starred recent Academy Award nominee Dame Judith Dench
and was met with similar raves.

The Bliss contingency consist of Judith Bliss, a
recently retired stage actress obsessed about her age,
her looks, and desire to be continuously indulged. 
Her husband David is a self-observed best selling
author of bad books.  Their adult children, Sorel and
Simon, having been brought up in chaos, lack any sense
of reality.  Being overly dramatic is the norm.  Into
this eccentricity come a group of house guests. 
Unfortunately, as is the case with most of their
lives, none of the Blisses know that each has invited
a weekend visitor.  The results are comedic chaos.

Coward once stated that the play has ‘‘no plot at all
and remarkably little action. Its general
effectiveness therefore depends on expert technique
from each and every member of the cast [and the
director’s creativity].’’  Fortunately for GLTF, their
director and  cast are up to the task.  In the hands
of a lesser company, ‘HAY FEVER’ could be a torturous
experience.  This is definitely not the case at GLTF. 

Fee masterminds the fun.  The pace is fast, the
characters clearly etched, the laugh lines are all
keyed, and the overall effect is wonderful.

Kathleen Pirkl Tague is correctly over-the-top as
Judith.  She creates THE drama queen of drama queens. 
This is one show in which over acting is needed, and
Tague can over act!  She is rivaled by Sara Bruner as
Sorel.  Bruner creates a character whose lack of
reality is so normal and natural that it makes her
believable.  Jeffrey C. Hawkins flits around the stage
like Tinker Bell.  Hawkins so overdoes the roll that
he makes us easily believe that his lack of reality is
a norm.  Aled Davies’s David perfectly characterizes
the emotionally absent father who has disdain for the
family and everyone else.  The rest of the cast, Laura
Perrotta, David Anthony Smith, Laura Welsh, Lynn
Robert Berg and Elizabeth Ann Townsend are all
wonderful.

Gage Williams’ set, Nicole Frachiseur’s costumes and
Peter John Still’s sounds, all add to the goings-on.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:   ‘HAY FEVER’ is a laugh riot. 
This production is a must see for anyone who loves to
have a good time in the theatre and care not about the
worries of the world.

For educators:  GLTF has prepared an excellent
teacher’s guide to accompany a discussion for students
who will be attending this fun production.  A special
student rate of $13 applies for the run of this show
and ‘THE TEMPEST.’ 

‘HAY FEVER’ runs through  April 21 at the Ohio Theatre
in Playhouse Square.  For ticket information call
216-241-6000 or go to www.greatlakestheater.org




Roy Berko's blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from 2002 through 2007, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at http://royberko.info
      
Roy's theatre and dance reviews appear regularly on NeOHIOpal, an on-line source.   To subscribe to this free service via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.fredsternfeld.com/mailman/listinfo/neohiopal.  His reviews also appear on www.coolcleveland.com


 
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