Issy van Randwyck and Nick Waring head the cast
in Noël Coward’s HAY FEVER at The Mill at Sonning
Noël Coward’s effervescent comedy of bad manners – written in three days when he was 24 – is set in a country house in Berkshire.
Judith Bliss (Issy van Randwyck) is a famous West End actress, technically retired. Husband David (Nick Waring) churns out romantic novels. Their grown-up children – Simon and Sorel – resolutely refuse to grow up.
The pathologically self-absorbed Blisses invite a quartet of hapless guests for the weekend: a career diplomat, a predatory society girl, a conventional sporty chap and a sweet-natured flapper. The guests turn out to be cannon fodder in the family’s ongoing solipsistic fantasies. The sociopathic hosts are briefly in-credulous when their guests creep away after breakfast.
‘Hay Fever’ has something for everyone. The rude bohemians in the audience love watching
themselves in action. More conventional theatregoers relish the enactment of their worst social nightmares. It’s a delirious rollercoaster of a play, encased in wit, comic brio and emotional truth.
Issy van Randwyck’s stage credits include ‘Dazzling Divas’ – writer and performer (Offie Award Nomination – Minerva Theatre Chichester, Jermyn Street Theatre, Hurlingham Festival and upcoming at The Mill at Sonning from 19 July – 29 July, 2023); ‘The Boyfriend’ (Menier Chocolate Factory); ‘Rough Crossing’ (tour); ‘Anything That Flies’ (Jermyn Street Theatre); ‘The Go Between’ (Aldwych Theatre); ‘A Further Education’, ‘Raving and No Naughty Bits’ (Hampstead Theatre); ‘Closer Than Ever’ (Offie Award Nomination), ‘Anyone Can Whistle’ (Offie Award Nomination), ‘Dead Divas’ and ‘The Betrayal of Nora Blake’ (Jermyn Street Theatre); ‘The American Clock’ (Finborough Theatre); ‘Dirty Dancing’ (Aldwych Theatre); ‘Once in a Lifetime’ and ‘A Little Night Music’ (National Theatre); ‘Plaza Suite’ (Mill at Sonning); ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, ‘Two Gentlemen of Verona’ and ‘Kiss Me Kate’ – Olivier Award Nomination for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical (Regents Park Open Air Theatre); Fascinating Aida 1994-1999 – Olivier Award Nominations for Best Entertainment 1994 and 1999.
Nick Waring’s theatre credits include: ‘Ten Times Table’, ‘Don’t Dress For Dinner’ (The Mill at Sonning); ‘4 Love’, ‘Tonight at 8:30’; ‘Stone Cold Murder’; ‘The Heart of Things’; ‘Stone Cold Murder’; ‘Taking Steps’; ‘Room Service Included’. TV includes: ‘Father Brown’; ‘Call The Midwife’; ‘Ransom’; ‘EastEnders’; ‘Holby City’; ‘Victoria’; ‘The Detectorists’; ‘Genius Albert Einstein’; Guiltology’. The cast also features Aretha Ayeh (as Myra Arunde), Beth Lilly (Jackie Coryton), Daniel Fraser (Sandy Tyrell), Darrell Brockis (Richard Greatham), Emily Panes (Sorel Bliss), Joanna Brookes (Clara), William Pennington (Simon Bliss).
The full Hay Fever companyCreative team:
Tam Williams Director
Michael Holt Set Designer
Natalie Titchener Costume Designer
Graham Weymouth Sound Designer
Matt Biss Lighting Designer
Kate Plantin CDG Casting Director
LISTINGS INFO
HAY FEVER
by Noël Coward
Directed by Tam Williams
The Mill at Sonning Theatre
Sonning Eye
Reading
RG4 6TY
16 March – 13 May
Evening Shows Wed – Sat
Sat Matinees Every Week
Sun Matinees from 26 March