Hay Fever
by  
Noel Coward

March 14, 15, 16, 17, 18,  1966

Directed by
Fabian E. de P. Worsfield

FW wrote "This is only my second production in this delightful theatre, and again  chose a comedy.  I think I sensed that the company would be a delight to work with, and this has certainly been vindicated.  I must record a visitor's tribute to the research and general 'back-stage' arrangements which have been most professional, and to add to any 'Coward nostalgia', the scenery painting has been formalised as it was when the play was first produced.  

This has been a really happy production and I hope we can share this enjoyment  with you through our performance of this difficult but rewarding play."

Cast

Publicity of the time

I B-W

"Hay Fever is still catching "

Noel Coward's play never cease to delight, but, inevitably, they seem dated.  Does it matter one jot or tittle?  They - like the rich comedy, Hay Fever, being presented tonight and tomorrow night at the Barn Theatre by  Wick Theatre Company - provide absorbingly brittle amusement, and that, alone, is enough justification for the casting of a kindly eye upon their 'twenties tone.

The Wick Players [sic] are well equipped to put over the slick suavity of Coward's quips and quirks.  Here we have a typical piece of nonsense, directed by Fabian E. de P. Worsefield [sic] , against a set designed by Vincent Joyce, with decor by Irene Sweet - both obviously moved by a professional fervour which has resulted in delightful authenticity.

The Bliss family - all temperamental and admirably cast - is projected cleverly by Dale Wood as pretty, restless daughter, Sorel, David Goodger as her erratic brother, Simon, Robert del Quiaro as her author father, David, and Jean Porter as their ex-actress mother, Judith.  Their Cookham home is gradually invaded by guests, invited by each in turn unknown to the rest.  Glamorous, cool-as-a-cucumber Myra Arundel arrives, and gives Jillian Cheetham an opportunity she grasps with precision to put love-lorn Simon through his paces.  Judith, of course, is  a man-eater and utterly adorable in her sexy bewitchery.  No wonder ingenuous Sandy Tyrell finds her too-too much for him, though the part was anything of the kind for competent Raymond Hopper.  Betty Dawes introduces a welcome matter-of-factness into the frantic domestic scene as the housekeeper, Clara.  Amber Dobson lisps her way around a wide-eyed Jackie Coryton, and David Creedon is good enough as Richard Greatham to turn any head as pretty as Sorel's.

Another review of the time

THESPIS

"Wick reap rewards of adventure"

For their production of Noel Coward's Hay Fever last week, the  Wick Theatre Company had a guest producer Fabian E. de P. Worsfield, who is hon. director of Brighton Youth Theatre and speech and drama master at the Dorothy Stringer Secondary Modern School in Brighton.  This was a very adventurous production of what the producer rightly calls a 'difficult, but rewarding' play.  Set in the Twenties , and skillfully costumed with every trick of the trade employed, an equally rewarding evening was given to the audience by this, I say again, very adventurous production.

Of the delightfully crazy house-hold of best-seller writer David Bliss [played with a pleasing subtlety by Robert del Quiaro] the key member is his former actress wife, Judith.  In this part Jean Porter had a spate of opportunities for comedy and seized them all.  Judith, posing all over the place, can be a bit of a bore and it requires great skill in an actress to make her consistently amusing and in a strange way credible.  I was consistently amused by Jean Porter and never bored.  Their children, Simon and Sorel were played by David Goodger and Dale Wood:  Simon somewhat fey and artistic , Sorel with the saving grace to realise that the house IS crazy and will make frequent determinations to reform.  Dale Wood must watch a tendency to rush her words and shriek when angry.  The vampish Myrna Arundel  was played with very great charm and astringency by Jillian Cheetham, David Creedon was the fish-out-of-water diplomat Richard Greatham and Betty Dawes the ex-dresser / housekeeper Clara.

Two parts played with exquisite  comedy, which nevertheless, tottered perilously on the edge of farce were the supporting Sandy Tyrell by Raymond Hopper with a fund of inventiveness and skill, and the vacuous Jackie Coryton by Amber Dobson with the Dutch doll make-up and dead-pan expression.

Another review of the time

C S P

"The Roaring Twenties brought to life"

The era of the gay but vacuous 'flappers' of Roaring Twenties is vividly recaptured in the  Wick Theatre Company's production of Noel Coward's diverting Hay Fever at the Barn Hall, Southwick, this week.  Directed by Fabian E. de P. Worsfield, assisted by Angela Bolton, with a fine period set designed by Vincent Joyce and decor by Irene Sweet, the production shows, once again, that the Wicks can successfully project the mood and times of any play to which they bring their talents.  The current production was well received at its opening night on Tuesday, when one or two rough edges were apparent, but by tonight [Friday] and tomorrow night it should be one delicious romp from first to last. 

The setting is the Cookham home of the artistic slap-happy Bliss family, over whom towers the impressive figure of Judith, the mother, an actress of past talents and very present temperament who even at home lives as if she is still on stage.  There is David, her husband, a novelist, Sorel, the pert and pretty daughter, and Simon, a gushing young man with artistic leanings.  Unbeknown to the others, each has invited a friend down for a quiet weekend by the river.  There are some riotous results, in which life with the Blisses turns out to be far from blissful for their guests, who are largely ignored and finally sneak off, sadder but wiser people.

Jean Porter plays Judith with a delightful zest, over-acting outrageously as the rôle demands and hard-pedalling every note of the comedy.  Dale Wood and David Goodger prove admirable choices for Sorel and Simon, and Bob del Quiaro, playing David, effectively injects humour into a less demonstrative rôle.  Newcomers to the company, Jillian Cheetham, as suave Myra Arundel, and Amber Dobson, as gauche and lisping Jackie Coryton, two of the hapless guests, interpret their contrasting rôles with studied finesse.  David Creedon acquits himself well as pleasant Richard Greatham, and energetic, boyish Sandy Tyrell is capably played by Raymond Hopper, Betty Dawes amuses as the somewhat waspish maid, Clara.

Assisting backstage in a variety of duties are Ian Leavey, Frank Hurrell, Terry Mase, Morfydd Bowen, Frances Thorn [sic] and Margaret Perrett.

The Queen
and the 
Rebels

by Ugo Betti

May 9,10,11, 12,
13, 1967

Directed by
Bess Blagden

There was no programme note. 

Cast

Review of the time

C.S.P

"Compelling Acting in Wick Drama"

Some really compelling acting in a drama unfolded at a cracking pace assures the success of this week's production by the Wick Theatre Company, at the Barn Hall., Southwick, of Ugo Betti's The Queen and the Welshman.  Set in a hillside village, apparently well east of the Iron Curtain, in a country in the throes of revolution against its Queen, this play could, in less competent hands, have been as tragic as the tale it unfolded.  But under Bess Blagden's imaginative production, the cast really gets to grips with the grim realities of a country in chaos, and there are some very testing rôles sustained with real merit.  the fifth and final performance is tomorrow [Saturday}. 

The acting abilities of Jean Porter, as Argia, the opportunist, who believes in sailing with the prevailing winds of change but who takes pity on the fleeing Queen and dooms herself to a firing squad in the process, prove fully up to the occasion.  Her performance is one of moving depth and intensity - quite her best to date.  Hitherto confined to unimportant rôles, Wendy Rogers seizes her opportunities as the Queen disguised as a peasant and distraught with fear for her life, and she contributes in some depth to the unfolding drama.  Jim Bebbington, not without acting experience but new to the Wicks [sic], plays Raim, the interpreter, with a fine realism and brings out the whole shallowness of his rôle.  There are full-blooded appearances by Ralph Dawes, as Biante, the wounded general, and by David Creedon, who induces spine-chilling moments as the soulless Commissar.

Also contributing appreciably to the play's overall effect are David Goodger [porter], Barrie Bowen [engineer], Ross Workman [guard], Tony Sellwood and Christopher Dunn [travelers], Terry Phillippe [soldier] and little Yasuda Avery [peasant boy], and peasant women are played by Doris Rumpus, Sally Bishop, Maureen Hammonds, Sue Peaty and Rosemary Pigott. 

The grim setting is wholly appreciated.  Assisting backstage are Ian Leavey, Vincent Joyce, Frank Hurrell, Bob Baker, Terry Mase, Morfydd Bowen and Frances Thorne and Margaret Perrett.     

Another Review of the time

"Not Up To Their Usual Standard"

Ugo Betti's The Queen and The Welshman is an over-stated play and, particularly in the final scene, unduly repetitive.  This presents problems for actors and producer when it comes to bringing the thing to life.  Wick Theatre Company nearly overcame them but there were times when the play was tedious.  Perhaps, too, from the the point of view of the audience, the excesses of revolutionary fervour have been shown to us too often both in fiction and in fact so that the impact is lost.  David Creedon played the part of Commissar Amos, a dedicated revolutionary and, I feel, played it with too much emotion.  The cold blooded decision to kill, 'for the good of the people' must be an intellectual decision or the decision of blood-lust.  I should have preferred coldness and detachment.  However, in the convention in which he played the part, he played it well.

Argia, who is mistaken for the Queen by the rebels was played by Jean Porter, who seemed almost self-conscious in the rôle as if, perhaps, she did not entirely believe in herself.  Elisabetta, the Queen, played by Wendy Rogers could have shown at least the superficial trappings of an erstwhile queen.  Frightened, indeed, she was, but there must be a flash of regality.  David Goodger was excellent as the all-things-to-all-men hall porter, Orazio and Barrie Bowen spoke with the right authority as the engineer.  Jim Babbington as the interpreter Raim did not realise the power of the part, and Ralph Dawes as Biante, the General, seemed a little robust for a man presently to die.  Other parts were played by Ross Workman, Tony Sellwood, Christopher Dunn, Doris rumpus, Sally Bishop, Maureen Hammonds, Sue Peaty, Rosemary Pigott, Terry Phillippe and Yasuda Avery.

Possibly Bess Blagden's direction lacked firmness but all-in-all I found the production less satisfying than most Wick Theatre company presentations.

Another review of the time

THESPIS

" Congratulations Patrick "

Both David Creedon and Jean Porter as the main protagonists Elyot and Amanda romped through their roles, with the rapid changes of mood and the sweet unreason of the plot.  As their respective wife and husband Sybil and Victor, Margaret Ockenden and Raymond Hopper are not quite so happily cast.  Margaret Ockenden, I feel, tries that little bit too hard to be the little girl in nee of protection, while Raymond Hopper does not make Victor the crashing bore that I feel he should be. 

But it is Elyot and Amanda's play, and the whole thing goes merrily on to the delight of the audience and it is all in the best Coward tradition.  Credit must be given to Andrew Barnicott for design, Irene Sweet for decor, and to Ian Leavey for the set construction; and to the wardrobe mistress Pamela Steventon and costumier Nikki Leroy. In a play of this type in which everyone is wealthy scenery and costume have great importance in creating the right setting for the plot.  In this production these things are right.

There will be final performances tonight and tomorrow at 7.45pm.

NEXT SEASON - 1968