Hay Fever

Written by Noël Coward

Narrated by Tate Donovan, Arabella Field, Joy Gregory and 6 more

Three members of an idiosyncratic family are expecting company at their country estate. But when their unsuspecting guests arrive, they find that a weekend with the Bliss family is anything but. Classic Noël Coward.

An L.A. Theatre Works full cast performance featuring:

Tate Donovan as Richard Gratham
Arabella Field as David Boies
Joy Gregory as Sorel Bliss Coryton
Jeffrey Jones as David Bliss
Lynne Marta as Clara
Serena Scott Thomas as Myra Abundel
Carolyn Seymour as Judith Bliss
Eric Stoltz as Sandy Tyrell
Simon Templeman as Simon Bliss

Directed by John Rubinstein. Recorded before a live audience at the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles in October of 1999.

• Language: English
• Publisher: L.A. Theatre Works
• Release date: Jul 2, 2001
• ISBN: 9781580814553

Noël Coward

Noël Coward (1899–1973), also known as Sir Noël Peirce Coward, was an English writer, director and performer. He studied dance and acting as a child, before making his professional debut at age 12. As a teen, he began writing plays including the comedy I’ll Leave It to You, which debuted in 1920. Over the course of his career, Coward penned more than 50 plays such as Private Lives, Present Laughter and Blithe Spirit. During his final years, he received knighthood (in 1969) followed by a Tony Award for lifetime achievement.

Reviews for Hay Fever

[ronophonic · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What delightful chaos! What delightful characters! Noel Coward's dialogue bristles. Absolutely superb performances from the entire cast! Kudos!

[kirstiecat · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Well, I think this may have been the weakest of the three plays in the collection, perhaps because it follows a typical comedy of errors with a family each having a lover and all of the lovers switching and also getting a bit fed up with the self absorbed aristocratic family. This would probably make for a hysterical play when performed but it's easy to get annoyed with its predictability while reading it.

[leslie398 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While I enjoyed this full cast audiobook of the play, I didn't find it as funny as I expected. Perhaps it needed the visual aspect - I will have to see if I can find a video or film of this online somewhere.