Yale Bulletin and Calendar

April 26-May 3, 1999

Volume 27, Number 30

Classic comedy by Noel Coward
will top off the season at the Yale Rep

"Hay Fever," a comedy about a less-than-blissful weekend with the Bliss family, will be the final offering in the Yale Repertory Theatre's 1998-99 season.

The show, which also celebrates the centennial of the birth of playwright Noel Coward, will be presented April 29-May 22 at the Yale Rep under the direction of Stan Wojewodski Jr., artistic director of the theater and dean of the School of Drama.

"Hay Fever" is set during a rainy weekend at the Bliss family's country retreat. The host and hostess for the weekend are Judith Bliss, a famous actress who is not taking well to retirement, and her husband, David, a novelist who is trying to finish his latest book. Unbeknownst to one another, Judith, David and their grown children have each invited a guest for a little romantic liaison. When the group is trapped inside by pouring rain, the houseguests find themselves drawn into the family war games -- a rapid-fire and often-treacherous contest of charades, intrigues, gibes, cracks and endless one-upsmanship.

"'Hay Fever' is a thoroughly charming and slyly complicated clockwork," says Wojewodski. "Its real triumph is that it rewards the care and precision you pour into it in the rehearsal room with an absolutely equal amount of delight for the audience. That is its staying power."

The play was based in part upon Coward's travels to New York in 1922. Although unsuccessful as an actor at that time, he was well received in social circles and was a regular guest at parties thrown by actress Laurette Taylor and her husband, playwright Hartley Manners. It was at these soirees that Coward met the real-life characters he would later fictionalize in "Hay Fever."

Considered one of the theater's most versatile and prolific artists, Coward made his professional acting debut at age 11. He continued to appear in musicals, plays and movies throughout his life -- often acting in and directing his own plays. His first play, "I'll Leave It to You," was produced in London in 1919. Following his 1922 sojurn in New York, Coward returned to England and quickly wrote three plays while appearing in a musical revue.

When these three plays -- "The Vortex," "Hay Fever" and "Fallen Angels" -- were produced in 1924 and 1925, Coward became an "overnight success." He continued to write, developing over 60 plays and musicals throughout his career, as well as a handful of film scripts, two novels, two autobiographies and several short stories. On his 70th birthday, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his work in theater and literature. He died in Jamaica in 1973 at age 73.

Wojewodski is currently in his eighth season at the Yale Rep, where he previously directed such works as "Pentecost," "First Lady," "The Adventures of Amy Bock," "The Marriage of Figaro/Figaro Gets a Divorce," "Oleanna," "The Baltimore Waltz," "Edward the Second" and "Candida." He has also staged productions at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, and at regional theaters throughout the United States.

The roles of Judith and David Bliss will be played, respectively by Mary Beth Piel, an award-winning actress whose has appeared on and off Broadway and portrays Grams on the television series "Dawson Creek"; and Larry Pine, who appeared on Broadway as Roy Cohn in "Angels in America" and on screen in Woody Allen's "Celebrity," among other films.

The cast also includes Matthew Greer as Simon Bliss; second-year drama school student Alexa Fischer as Sorel Bliss; Laura Esterman as Myra Arundel, devoted admirer of David's novels; 1998 drama school graduate Tessa Auberjonois as Jackie Coryton, the young woman Simon wants to marry; Mark Deklin as Sandy Tyrell, a long-time fan of Judith's acting; second-year drama school student Ronald Dean Nolen as Richard Greatham, Sorel's world-traveling beau; and Mary Fogarty as Judith's former dresser, who is now maid to the Bliss family.

The design team for "Hay Fever" includes Michael Yeargan, sets; Jane Greenwood, costumes; Stephen Strawbridge, lighting; and first-year drama school student Vincent Olivieri, sound.

Performance times for "Hay Fever" are Mondays at 7 p.m. and Tuesdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m. There will be 2 p.m. matinees on Saturdays, May 8, 15, 19 and 22. Tickets range in price from $26 to $33, with discounts available for students, senior citizens and groups of 10 or more. For information, call the Yale Rep box office at 432-1234, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and Saturdays, and 10 a.m. until showtime on performance days.

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Campus Notes