Harpo in Heels

We went up the hill the other night. The American University Players were staging a revival of Noel Coward’s 1924 play, Hay Fever. English comedies are tough sledding for Yankee actors - and the audience. Somehow American accents are a cinch for the Brits, but English accents are a stretch for most Americans. Diction and social class are not things we worry about. An Englishman might obsess on either or both.

Indeed, a well fed Briton can wax eloquently and wittily for an hour and say absolutely nothing. He or she will still get high marks for form. The subject matters not as several people in the same group might be having several different conversations. Talking past your neighbor is not necessarily rude as long what you say is well said. If we keep these things in mind, we might begin to understand a comedy of manners, an odd and unique British institution – the fusion of class (upper) and conversation. If you don’t appreciate wit and word play, repartee as they say, Noel Coward is not your man.

The action revolves around Judith Bliss (Ariana Hodes), a pretentious over-the-hill actress, her novelist husband (David Pritchard) and two feuding children (Maeve Koch and Noah Baron). Each of the principals has invited a guest to the Bliss country home for what appears to be a weekend of tedium. A few minutes into the first act, Clara, the housekeeper (nee dresser), pops out of the scullery and makes off with the first belly laughs of the night. How typically American! The first scene stealer is a freshman (Renee Best) playing a middle-aged Cockney. We didn’t see that coming. The audience then spends a good part of Act One waiting for Clara to come back on stage. She is that good.

Just when you start to believe that there is only one thespian thief in the house, the guests begin to arrive; a lothario (Tyler Budde), a diplomat (Adiel Stein), a literary groupie (Shalia Sakona) and a ditsy flapper. This last piece of casting is a gem. Jackie (Ezree Mualem) even upstages the playwright. Mualem is not just funny; she’s loony. If she never had a word of dialogue, she would still be a riot. She frets, rolls her eyes, squirms and grimaces like a trapped animal – or a woman about to have her nails done with bamboo splinters. Picture a very pretty Harpo Marx in heels! If the AU Players ever do Cuckoo’s Nest, Ms. Mualem could break a leg.

Scenic designer A.C. Holland and costume designer B.T. Tucker need to take a bow also. The early 20th Century interior and costumes are spot on. Back in the day, we used to go to the flics at the Greenberg Theater on Wisconsin Ave when it was a cinema. It never looked as good as it did the other night. What a valentine!

We were surprised to see empty seats at the Greenberg. It’s not a big venue. With this quality of theater available in the neighborhood, you would think the good citizens of AU Park, Spring Valley, Glover Park and the Palisades would be better patrons of school events like Noel Coward’s play. Maybe next time. Nonetheless, it appears that you can get hay fever in February. Thinking about Clara and Jackie, we sniffed and snorted all the way home back down Cathedral Avenue.