Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto

GESUNDHEIT

Noel Coward, the author of the Thespian’s play for October, writes:

“HAY FEVER is considered to be my best comedy.  Whether or not this assertion is true, posterity, if it gives it a glance, will be able to judge with more detachment than I.  At any rate it has certainly proved to be a great joy to amateurs, owing, I suppose, to the smallness of its cast, and the fact that it has only one set, which must lead the, poor dears, to imagine that it is easy to act.  This species of delusion being common to amateurs all over the world, no word of mine shall be spoken, no warning finger of experience raised, to discourage them, beyond the timorous suggestion that from the professional standpoint, HAY FEVER is far and away one of the most difficult plays to perform that I have ever encountered.

“To begin with, it has no plot at all, and remarkably little action.  Its general effectiveness therefore depends upon expert technique from each and every member of the cast.  The level of acting in the original London production . . . was extremely high; consequently the play was a tremendous success.  The press naturally and inevitable described it as ‘thin,’ ‘tenuous,’ and ‘trivial,’ . . . It ran for a year.

“In America it fared less well.  [The lead actress] was enthusiastically torn to shreds by the critics for overacting, which indeed she did, but with the very extenuating circumstance that her supporting cast was so dreary that if she hadn’t, I gravely doubt if any of the audience would have stayed in the theatre at all.  I am very much attached to HAY FEVER . . . “

[Noel Coward, PLAY PARADE, pp xi-xii, Doubleday, Doran & Co., New York, 1933]

Mr. Coward has laid down a challenge.  Are you up to it?

Make a reservation for Monday, October 9 in Room 10 or Tuesday, October 24 in Room 9.* 
Call me or send an email to thespians-info@uucpa.org .  Or just show up and take your chances.

— Philip Hodge  Chair of Thespians

* Note: We are back on campus and will stay there until further notice.