Insanity makes a delightful weekend visit
Grade: A-
Unconventional, unusual, peculiar, strange, curious, bizarre, outlandish, quirky and hilarious.
And I thought my family was strange.
Utah State Theatre’s production of Noel Coward’s brilliant comedy, “Hayfever,” surpassed expectations with its professional execution of a masterfully written farce.
In two words, “Hayfever” is inspired lunacy.
The most interesting thing about the play is that, despite its conspicuous lack character development (none of the characters really learn anything or progress/digress), it still succeeded in delivering a side-splitting, and even slightly credible, look into the uncommon lives of the “artistic” elite.
By credible, I mean that I saw people I knew in the eccentric and often rude antics of the actors on the stage.
Well, at least I saw myself.
The linear but entirely unimportant plot centers around a weekend in the life of the Bliss Family. Having each invited guests up to their home in Cookham, the delightfully looney family provides the impetus for comedy in the show. The guests are at various times amused, befuddled or angered by the curious family dynamics they both witness and become victims to. Myra Arundel, a guest skillfully played by Lori Wilkinson, captures condemns the family as a “featherbed of false emotions” and “artificial to the point of lunacy.”
Because nothing really matters to the family – “we never mean anything we say,” Sorel Bliss tells Sandy Tyrell at one point in the proceedings – the obvious romantic potential of the weekend visit, which left much of the audience speculating after the first act about who would end up with who, really fizzles into nothing. By writing a play where it doesn’t matter who ends up with who, or even when the show actually ends (it could have ended after the second act and lost none of the hilarity), Coward takes away larger social implications and leaves us with what contemporary critics called a gay, bright and most amusing entertainment.
By far, the most enchanting performances of the evening came from the delightfully looney Bliss family, starring Michael Gardner as Simon, Lindsay Boucher as Sorel, Jon McBride as David, and Katie Ackerman as the show-stealing, retired actress Judith.
Gardner particularly captured the spirit of his fickle and falsely passionate character, not only through precise delivery of clever dialogue but by his smooth and comic body language.
Ackerman’s performance went beyond the comic pretenses of the overbearing Judith to include a beautiful display of her singing ability and McBride, who played Fredrick Egerman in last year’s production of “A Little Night Music,” perfectly complemented Ackerman’s expert performance.
The costumes were elaborate and captivating, while the set – one large, carefully decorated room – was a wonder to behold. I mean, if it weren’t for those pesky vagrancy laws, I would have no problems living in the set.
In short the entire performance was one of the most entertaining I’ve seen in the Morgan Theatre.
“Hayfever” plays this week Wednesday through Saturday. If you haven’t yet attended, make sure not to miss this purely, hysterical theatrical treat.
If you do, you’ll surely kick yourself later.
Matt Wright is a critic and assistant features assistant at the Utah Statesman. Comments can be sent to him at mattgo@cc.usu.edu.
The Bliss Family including (left to right) Simon (Michael Gardern), Judith (Katie Ackerman), Sorel (Lindsay Boucher) and David (Jon McBride), eat breakfast while listening to David read his just-finished novel, “The Sinful Woman.” (Photo by Jamie Crane)