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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">GLTG’s ‘Hay Fever’
induces drowsiness <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Bob
Abelman<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">News-Herald,
Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times
Courier<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Member,
International Association of Theatre Critics <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">This
review appeared in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">News-Herald
</I></SPAN><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">5/14/10<B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><o:p></o:p></B></SPAN></P>
<P><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>Typical symptoms for Noel Coward’s </SPAN><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Hay Fever</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>, a wild </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">comedy
of manners set in 1920s <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>England,
include recurrent laughter, intermittent guffaws and watery eyes.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Coward’s brilliant wordplay is the
allergen and his cleverly conceived characters are the triggers.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>It’s <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Hay Fever</I><SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic"> </SPAN>season in Chardon at the Geauga
Theater. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>The plot for this play could not be simpler or more
fun.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>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.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">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.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Her
husband, David, a mediocre novelist, has invited a </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN>gauche
</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">flapper he barely
knows.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Visiting their petulant son,
Simon, is his icy girlfriend whom Judith lovingly describes as a "self-conscious
vampire.”<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The moody daughter,
Sorel, has asked a stuffy diplomat to the home. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>The guests expect a carefree weekend of upper-class
pampering, marvelous parties and erudite conversation over cocktails.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>What they get is a Blisskrieg of
eccentric bad behavior.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>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.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Although this plot is
simple, properly executing this play is not.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>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.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>They live by established
rules of etiquette while simultaneously breaking
them.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>This play contains
genuine lunacy but, if it is played too broadly, Coward’s subtle humor gets lost
in the commotion.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>Under the direction of Patty Osredkar, the </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Geauga Lyric Theater Guild</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN">
<SPAN lang=EN>community players demonstrate the discipline not to go
overboard.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Unfortunately, this
production goes to the other extreme and errs on the side of caution and
restraint.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The actors deliver
little more than droll.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>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.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They lack vitality and playfulness,
which sucks much of the fun out of this production.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Like an antihistamine, they subdue the
contagion of laughter in </SPAN><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Hay Fever</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>, leaving the audience drowsy and unable to operate heavy equipment
after consuming. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>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.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They play,
and play well, while the others appear to be performing.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They take risks in this production and
are wonderful.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>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.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>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.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>The GLTG needs to be applauded for taking on this play and
offering Noel Coward to the community.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>It also needs to be commended for understanding the importance of
production values and putting the time and currency into sets, props and
costumes.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><FONT size=3><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Hay Fever</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>is most certainly worth catching.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Despite this production’s shortcomings, Coward’s brilliance speaks for
itself.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Hay
Fever</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">
c</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">ontinues through May
22 at the Geauga Theater, 101 Water Street, Chardon.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For tickets, which range from $13 to
$15, call 440-286-2255 or visit <A href=""><FONT
color=#004276>www.geuagatheater.org</FONT></A>.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>