American Players Theatre’s ‘Hay Fever’ Gives Rise to Comedy of Bad Manners

Noël Coward's enjoyably light Hay Fever is an excellent addition to American Players Theatre's late summer offerings. Tracy Michelle Arnold portrays Judith Bliss, a retired stage actress and matriarch of an eccentric, artistic British family in the mid-1920s. The action gets rolling as each member of the family invites a guest to stay with them for the weekend without consulting anyone else in the family. The story plays out as a thoroughly enjoyable comedy of bad manners.

Lacking Coward's usually witty dialogue, the genius of Hay Fever lies in its situational humor, in which actors must use their comedic skills to portray extravagantly uncomfortable moments. American Players Theatre (APT) handles these moments brilliantly, led by a cleverly reserved Brian Mani as the Bliss patriarch, David, a novelist consumed by his work to the point of obliviousness. Steve Haggard plays the Bliss son, a snide painter at odds with most all of the characters. Haggard is delightfully bratty in a comic mix of intelligence, bitterness and wealth. Tiffany Scott, in her second year with APT, brings a sympathetic stage presence to her role as the Bliss daughter. Her character makes an art out of trying to achieve the normalcy that remains unattainable to the rest of her family.

The wildness of the Bliss family would be nothing without a normal-seeming group of guests to be measured against, and the rest of the cast does a remarkable job of playing the other end of the comedy. Marcus Truschinski stands out as an unflappable British diplomat whose stern politeness is challenged at every corner.

American Players Theatre's production of Hay Fever runs through Oct. 3 at the Up the Hill Theatre in Spring Green, Wis.