[NEohioPAL] Review of "Hay Fever" at GLTG

[Bob Abelman]

GLTG's 'Hay Fever' induces drowsiness 

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review appeared in the News-Herald 5/14/10

Typical symptoms for Noel Coward's Hay Fever, a wild comedy of manners set in 1920s  England, include recurrent laughter, intermittent guffaws and watery eyes.  Coward's brilliant wordplay is the allergen and his cleverly conceived characters are the triggers.  

It's Hay Fever season in Chardon at the Geauga Theater. 

The plot for this play could not be simpler or more fun.  Unbeknownst to the others, each member of the wealthy, bohemian and self-absorbed Bliss family has invited a guest of the opposite sex for a weekend stay at their opulent country home.  

 

Judith, the matriarch and a retired actress who has not quite left the stage, has invited a young pretty-boy admirer who has no idea she is married.  Her husband, David, a mediocre novelist, has invited a gauche flapper he barely knows.  Visiting their petulant son, Simon, is his icy girlfriend whom Judith lovingly describes as a "self-conscious vampire."  The moody daughter, Sorel, has asked a stuffy diplomat to the home. 

 

The guests expect a carefree weekend of upper-class pampering, marvelous parties and erudite conversation over cocktails.   What they get is a Blisskrieg of eccentric bad behavior.  They are fawned over one moment, rudely ignored the next, and sucked into an absurd melodrama being played out by their endearing but demented hosts. 

 

Although this plot is simple, properly executing this play is not.

 

The characters that comprise the Bliss family possess a droll air of refinery, all the while tossing barbed and beautifully crafted zingers that often land below the belt.

 

They live by established rules of etiquette while simultaneously breaking them.

 

This play contains genuine lunacy but, if it is played too broadly, Coward's subtle humor gets lost in the commotion.  

Under the direction of Patty Osredkar, the Geauga Lyric Theater Guild community players demonstrate the discipline not to go overboard.  Unfortunately, this production goes to the other extreme and errs on the side of caution and restraint.  The actors deliver little more than droll.  

Sue Beattie, as Judith Bliss, delivers droll beautifully, but she and most of the other players never allow the undercurrent of lunacy to reveal itself, particularly in the later part of this three-act play.  They lack vitality and playfulness, which sucks much of the fun out of this production.  Like an antihistamine, they subdue the contagion of laughter in Hay Fever, leaving the audience drowsy and unable to operate heavy equipment after consuming. 

Only Shane Wohlken as Simon, Michael McArthur as the diplomat, and John Hazard as David Bliss understand what Coward requires and deliver it in droves.  They play, and play well, while the others appear to be performing.  They take risks in this production and are wonderful.  

Wonderful, too, is Sean Thompson's gorgeous and richly detailed set (kudos to master carpenter Steve Wilcox) and Kelly Miloro's eye-grabbing period costuming.  Too bad the lighting is inconsistent, which places the set and costuming in subdued brightness and shadow on one side of the stage and saturates everything on the other side.    

The GLTG needs to be applauded for taking on this play and offering Noel Coward to the community.  It also needs to be commended for understanding the importance of production values and putting the time and currency into sets, props and costumes.  

Hay Fever is most certainly worth catching.  Despite this production's shortcomings, Coward's brilliance speaks for itself.

Hay Fever continues through May 22 at the Geauga Theater, 101 Water Street, Chardon.  For tickets, which range from $13 to $15, call 440-286-2255 or visit www.geuagatheater.org.

 
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