Alumnae Theatre Productions Closes Noel Coward's HAY FEVER, 1/30

Alumnae Theatre Productions will stage Noel Coward's comedy of manners, 'Hay Fever' at the Alumnae Theatre's main stage from January 15 to 30.

Hay Fever debuted in London in 1925, to critical and public acclaim, and has been entertaining audiences ever since. Celebrated British playwright Sir N?el Coward was inspired to write the play (in just three days!) after spending a shattering weekend at the home of the legendarily eccentric American actress Laurette Taylor. He admitted that Hay Fever has 'no plot at all and remarkably little action", relying on broadly drawn characters expertly realized by talented actors with precise comic timing to convey the humour.

Each member of the Bliss family - retired theatre diva Judith Bliss, her novelist husband David, and their quarrelsome offspring Simon and Sorel - has invited a guest to spend the weekend at their country house, without telling the others. Naturally, this does not please Clara, who was Judith's stage dresser and now serves somewhat grumpily as the Bliss' housekeeper. The visitors - stylish vamp Myra Arundel (Simon's guest), dapper diplomat Richard Greatham (Sorel's guest), aspiring boxer Sandy Tyrell (Judith's guest), and the shy and awkward Jackie (David's guest) - don't know what to make of the dramatic and impetuous family, to whom normal behavior is completely foreign and social graces are an absurd concept.

"I've always loved the irreverent banter and over-the-top characters in Hay Fever," chuckles Kevin John McDonald, director of Alumnae Theatre's production. "And I have been blessed with a superb cast that brings those characters to vivid life. With the guests as eccentric in their own ways as their Bohemian hosts, and Judith and David feuding like Oberon and Titania, there's even an interesting parallel to A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's so easy to remember Coward as a stylish and sophisticated playwright and completely forget that his plays like Hay Fever should be hysterically funny - it's true situational comedy."

Sir N?el Coward, playwright, actor, composer and personality, could be considered the first British pop star, known as much for his witty and sharp personality as his extraordinary plays, songs and musicals. His style and witticisms have been copied and paid homage to time and time again, and his works continue to be reproduced on stage and adapted in a variety of media. His many well-known plays include Blithe Spirit (1941), Private Lives (1930), Cavalcade (1931) and Easy Virtue (1926).

Alumnae Theatre Company's production of Hay Fever features Dinah Watts (recently seen here in Albee's A Delicate Balance) as drama queen Judith Bliss; Hereward Pooley as her husband David; with Ken MacAlpine and Tamara Lubek as their children Simon and Sorel. Kaitlyn Riordan, Tina Sterling, Leete Stetson and Jonathan Thomas play the hapless guests; and Anne Harper is Clara the housekeeper. Kevin John McDonald directs the production.

'Hay Fever' will play from Friday January 15  - Saturday, January 30, 2010; Wednesday – Saturday 8:00pm; Sunday matinee at 2:00pm. There will be a Talkback with cast & director after the matinee on January 24. The Alumnae Theatre is located at 70 Berkeley Street in Toronto.

Tickets:  Wednesday 2-for-1; Thursday, Friday & Saturday $20; Sunday PWYC

For tickets and more information, please visit http://www.alumnaetheatre.com/

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