I caught Hay Fever last Thursday week. Silly time of year, autumn, to contract such a flush of the senses but the actors fairly bristled and blustered through Noël Coward’s witty dialogue as they lolled in the bath tub, broke a barometer and hated breakfast. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Heather Mitchell excelled herself – I hadn’t seen her do so well with comedy! And all of the cast kept the pressure up brilliantly, Helen Thompson especially.
I’ve known the play for years and wondered why the STC revived it now? It occurred to me a day or so later that a portrait of collisions between self-absorbed, self-indulgent middle class bohemians resonates beautifully with the modern young set who peer constantly through the window of their smart phones at their own private universe. Hmmm… Noël, you’re still singing to us 90 years later!