Coward wrote Hay Fever in three days at the age of twenty-four, and, according to his autobiography, it has its origins in weekends Coward spent at the home of Broadway star Laurette Taylor in 1921. He stated, “On Sunday evenings we had cold supper and played games, often rather acrimonious games, owing to Laurette’s abrupt disapproval of any guest who turned out to be self-conscious, nervous, or unable to act an adverb or an historical personage with proper abandon.” Taylor denied any resemblance to her family upon seeing tÑe show, with the comment, “None of us is ever unintentionally rude.” The play opened in 1925 and played for a year to good houses. On the occasion of its Broadway opening, Brooks Atkinson wrote, “After seeing Hay Fever you will never give week-ends again nor accept week-end engagements, but you will go to the theatre forever and ever. Amen.”

The play is set at the country home in the little village of Cookham, England, of the Bliss family, which consists of a recently retired actress, her novelist husband, and their two children. With romantic intentions, each of the Blisses has invited a houseguest without consulting the other members of the family. According to Chicago Sun-Times theater critic Hedy Weiss, “If all the world’s a stage, the Bliss household is the ideal arena for a comedy of manners, or perhaps more accurately, a comedy of the lack of manners. It is a home in which exaggerated self-dramatization is a way of life, and where hapless visitors either take a crash course in emotional explosiveness or find themselves playing a very minor role.”

Playwright, songwriter, and actor Sir Noel Coward (1899–1973) was one of the major theater figures of the twentieth century. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services during World War II, most notably for his film In Which We Serve. See CSJ Happenings for information about times and tickets.