BLISSFULLY *BAD* BEHAVIOR RUNS AMUCK AT
CORONADO PLAYHOUSE’S 27TH ANNUAL FREE
CLASSIC, HAY FEVER!
Hay Fever runs May 19 - June 4
CORONADO, CA – For year 27 of the Free Classic Series, Coronado audiences will be
transported to England to meet the outrageous and opinionated Bliss family in Noël Coward’s
Hay Fever. In this biting script, a quiet vacation goes awry when David and Judith Bliss’s
children Simon and Sorel crash their holiday, bringing along unassuming guests. A torrid game
of charades, a whirlwind engagement, and dramatic fainting all occur in a single act!
The vain characters’ emotive personalities and curt bickering play against the atmosphere
of English high society in this layered comedy. The self-absorbed Bliss family fails to recognize
their own petulant behaviors as the weekend unravels. “I am taking the Hay Fever that was set
98 years ago and bringing it into 2023,” says Director Hannah Meade, “complete with social
media and all of the modern-day validation dopamine hits. The Bliss family is completely ego
driven (in all of its forms) and I feel that fits perfectly in our inherited 2023 world!”
A cross between high farce and a comedy of manners, the play is set in an English
country house and deals with the four eccentric members of the Bliss family and their outlandish
behavior when they each invite a guest to spend the weekend. “Each of the guests finds
themselves caught in these wildly outrageous love triangles,” continues Meade. The
self-centered behavior of the hosts finally drives their guests to flee while the Blisses are so
engaged in a family row that they do not notice their guests' furtive departure. “A huge theme in
this play is vanity- especially witnessed through the Blisses," explains Meade, “which is one of
the reasons I wanted to push it into modern-day because, if nothing else, we as a human race
have found many more ways to receive that external approval.”