Costume graphics courtesy of costume designer Thomas Bernard

Inspired by a weekend that Coward spent with eccentric actress Laurette Taylor and her playwright husband J. Hartley Manners, he wrote Hay Fever, about a weekend visit gone bad, in three days in 1924; it just poured out of him. And it was an instant, unqualified hit.

Hay Fever epitomizes the sophisticated wit of the era between the two world wars. The “Roaring 20s” was a time when society allowed itself to relax, enjoy indulgences and gleefully tout its eccentricities. The chaotic Bliss family is no exception.

Directed by Craig Humphrey, Hay Fever is set in the hall of the Bliss family home. The eccentric Blisses are Judith, a recently retired stage-actress played by Jane Rebekah Frazier; David, a self-absorbed novelist played by Brian Ernsberger; and their two equally unconventional children. They live in a world where reality slides all too easily into fiction. Their tortured weekend guests are alternately amused, ignored, humiliated and, ultimately, abandoned.

One would rather spend the weekend with the MacBeths than with the Bliss children, whose un-house trained weirdness is expertly conveyed by Matthew Pedersen as Simon and Jessica Butler as Sorel. Hay Fever is a celebration of the sheer joy of behaving badly.

IPFW Williams Theatre will present Hay Fever at 8 p.m. on Feb. 25-26 and March 3-5; and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 6.

New this season: Admission for IPFW students with I.D. is free to all Williams Theatre performances.

Admission:
$12 Adults; $9 Seniors; $10 Faculty/Staff/Alumni/Arts Advocates;
$7 All other students with identification; and $10 Groups of 10 or more.

The Thursday, March 3, performance is the sign language interpreted. Braille program books and large-print programs are also available for each performance, along with our SoundMate Listening System for patrons with hearing loss.

http://www.ipfw.edu/vpa/theatre/performances.html