In the intimate setting of the Black Box Theater, Carlmont’s Performing Arts Department presented a well-executed portrayal of Noel Coward’s humorous and ludicrous comedy, Hay Fever.

Set in 1925 England, Hay Fever is the story of the irritable and unfittingly named Bliss family and the four guests, one for each family member, they invite to their house. Over a short 24-hour time span, the guests find it increasingly difficult to tolerate their dramatic and often annoying host family.

To authentically portray Hay Fever, all cast members had to use English accents. The accents proved to be convincing.

“Their accents are really good,” commented sophomore Emily Costello.

The play began humorously when Sorel, Simon, and Judith Bliss (portrayed by Sarah Burry, Kevin McAweeny, and Laura VanArsdel, respectively) bickered amongst themselves and wittily insulted each other. Their clashing personalities were made evident from the get go.

Throughout the play, the Bliss family’s sarcastic comments and eccentric behavior supplied audience members with many laughs.

Pyper Hayden, a freshman, said, “The ridiculousness of the characters is really funny.”

Multiple long and awkward pauses supplied by the house guests contrasted the overbearing Bliss hosts. The sense of absurdity added by these tense and uncomfortable moments greatly amused the audience.

At intermission, Costello said, “The show is really funny. All the actors are doing a great job.”

In addition to their unorthodox actions, the characters said many odd and provocative statements to each other.

With a suggestive facial expression, Richard Greatham (played by Ryan Maia) asked Judith, his married hostess,  “Would you like me to seduce you?”

With such preposterous statements, it became difficult to gauge the seriousness as well as the intent of some of the characters. This made parts of the play somewhat confusing.

Hay Fever ran from Thurs., Nov. 15 to Sun., Nov. 18.

Rating: 4/4 stars

Run time: approximately 2 hours, 20 minutes

Play type: comedy