by Noël Coward

LOGOS THEATRE COMPANY in association with TRAFFIC OF THE STAGE

SOREL BLISS Hannah Keeley SIMON BLISS Will Gillham JUDITH BLISS Judi Bowker DAVID BLISS Harry Meacher MYRA ARUNDEL Olivia Busby SANDY TYRELL Matt Sheppard CLARA Hilary Field JACKIE CORYTON Alice De-Warrenne RICHARD GREATHAM Peter Wiedmann

DIRECTOR Bryan Hands LIGHTING/TECHNICIAN George Galkin SET John Dalton COSTUME DESIGNER Andrew McRobb STAGE MANAGER Emily Maxwell PRODUCER John Cooper ACT I Saturday afternoon ACT II Saturday Evening ACT III Sunday Morning

The action of the play takes place in the Hall of the Blisses’ house at Cookham, Berkshire in June 1924.

There will be an interval of 15 minutes after Act I and a short break after Act II THE COMPANY JUDI BOWKER ( Judith Bliss ) Judi started her acting career in Zambia as a child. Her first role was in Franco Zefferelli’s film Brother Sun, Sister Moon. Her many TV and film roles include Black Beauty, South Riding, Count Dracula, Wilfred and Eileen, Dangerous Corner, A Portrait of Dorian Grey, Tales of the Unexpected, and The Bill. Films include In this House of Brede, Clash of the Titans, The Shooting Party, Ellis Island, Sins and Anna Karenina. Judi has toured extensively with The Importance of Being Earnest, and completed a world tour of Pygmalion. She was with the National Theatre for two years in The Cherry Orchard, Double Dealer, Macbeth, and Don Juan comes back from the Wars. Other roles include The Women (Old Vic) , The Linden Tree, Through Casa Guidi Windows The Seagull, Three Sisters and Ivanov, (Pilgrim Theatre ), The Cherry Orchard, Hedda Gabler, and Sherlock Holmes and The Hound of the Baskervilles, (Traffic of the Stage ); Mist after Dracula and Journal of an Urban Robinson Crusoe. (Handplay Productions) and Elmire in Tartuffe (directed by Bryan Hands). For Traffic of the Stage Touring she played Beatrice in Much Ado about Nothing and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth. She recently played Elena in Chekhov’s The Bear. Her latest film, Varanasi has just been released at Cineworld cinemas in the UK.

OLIVIA BUSBY (Myra Arundel) Olivia trained at Ecole Philippe Gaulier and Coventry University. TV credits include: Murder City, Messiah 3, Casualty, Crimewatch Solved, 50 Ways to Kill Your Lover and various commercials. Film credits are: Tanabata by Andreas Sheittanis and The Storyteller, also by Andreas Sheittanis which was recently screened at the Kinofilm Festival - Manchester. Theatre credits include: Baggage and Fragile – co-productions with The Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Kathmandu at and The Pleasance - The Edinburgh Fringe, The Coming of Gowf by Ken McClyment based on P.G. Wodehouse’s Golf stories for The Old Red Lion, Evelyn in Alan Ayckbourn's Absent Friends at the Union Theatre, Radotin Girl in Lunchtime with Kafka - Winchester Theatre Royal, Mistress Page in The Watermill Theatre’s The Bard Unbound, Beth in Happy Couples by Tom Jensen at Theatre N16, and Mabel Chiltern in the 2015 Slovenian National tour of Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband with British English-Speaking Theatre-Slovenia. Olivia lends her voice to Living Paintings - a charity for the blind and partially sighted.

HILARY FIELD (Clara) Hilary’s theatrical credits include: The Cuckolds at Theatro Technis for Logos Productions, The Old Curiosity Shop at Pentameters Theatre for Traffic Of The Stage, repertory at Chelmsford, Buxton and Whitby; tours of The Hostage, Winnie The Pooh, Absurd Person Singular and Snake In The Grass; Toad Of Toad Hall at the , Daisy Pulls It Off at The Link Theatre, Holborn, Handbag at the OSO in Barnes and Queen Anne at the . Hilary has also appeared in Yes Prime Minister (BBC Television) and in various corporate training videos and independent films.

WILL GILLHAM (Simon Bliss) Will graduated from Drama Studio London last year. During training he performed various roles such as Hec in London Wall, Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, Petypon in The Lady From Maxim's, Haemon in Antigone, Lopakhin in The Cherry Orchard, and Hal in Proof. Recently, he has performed in both theatre and film, as Prince Charming in a UK tour of Cinderella, Private Barnaby Smith in The Victorious, and as part of the ensemble with improvisation company, Zootrophic. ALICE DE-WARRENNE (Jackie Coryton) Alice graduated from The Guildford School of Acting (GSA) in 2015. Her credits there include Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible, Kristine in A Doll’s House and Lily Mortar in The Children’s Hour. Since graduating she has played Alice in Alice in Wonderland for a 12-week tour across the United Arab Emirates. Her further recent credits include The Wind and the Willows at Waterloo East Theatre, a tour of The Gingerbread Man and lastly, Under My Thumb for The RED Women’s Theatre Awards at .

HANNAH KEELEY (Sorel Bliss) Hannah is originally from Lancashire and graduated from the Rose Bruford Drama School in 2012 with a First Class BA (Hons) in American Theatre Arts. Most notably she has played Sibyl in Private Lives, Puck in A Midsummer Nights Dream for C Venues resident theatre company at the 2014 Edinburgh Fringe, Alison in the 2014 London stage adaptation of Trainspotting, and the lead role of May in Broken that premiered at the Lowry Theatre in Manchester. Short film and feature film credits include the award winning 9 Months (Fient Productions), White Rabbit (Pure Imagination Films), Under The Silence Of The Moon (UTSOTM), and most recently the period drama The Highwaywoman (Independent), where she played the title role.

HARRY MEACHER (David Bliss) Won a major award to RADA, where he was given the Ronson Award, the Principal’s Medal, Honorary Diploma and Stage Combat award. He has played in seasons at The , Citizen’s Glasgow, Sheffield Playhouse , Leeds Playhouse and has toured both nationally and internationally. He has played the title roles in Macbeth, King Lear, Richard III, Othello, and The Tempest. He played Astrov in Uncle Vanya, Vershinin in Three Sisters, Trigorin in The Seagull and the title role in Ivanov. Since 2006 he has directed his own play Through Casa Guidi Windows for a South and North American tour, and directed and adapted Ibsen’s Ghosts and The Masterbuilder. For Traffic of the Stage he directed John Cooper’s 21st Century Faust, The Education of a Lap Dancer, Far from the Madding Crowd, School for Scandal and Daniel Deronda and Tartuffe. At Pentameters Theatre he has directed numerous productions including The Dance of Death, Twelfth Night, Mating Behaviour, Wind in the Willows and Dangerous Corner. He has recently directed three new plays: Des Marshall’s Journal of an Urban Robinson Crusoe, Dorando by Bernardo Stella and his own Mist (after Dracula). For Traffic of the Stage he played Benedick in Much Ado about Nothing and title role in Macbeth. Recently he directed Des Marshall’s The Stand Up and Down and played Smirnov in Chekov’s The Bear. Recent TV: Van Meegeren in Raiders of the Lost Art. He is presently directing a new musical from Berlin, Comeback, The Karl Marx Musical which opens at Upstairs at the Gatehouse in early May. In Autumn 2016 he will direct Romeo and Juliet for Traffic of the Stage (UK Touring).

MATT SHEPPARD (Sandy Tyrell) Matt trained at Drama Studio London. Roles whilst training include: Vershinin in Three Sisters, Vatilin in An Absolute Turkey and Colin in Earthquakes in London. He has also toured with M&M Theatre and was a member of the Miskin Theatre in Kent. As a writer his first play Blame it on the Neighbours was first performed at Canal Café Theatre, his second play Hello Hawaii is currently being produced by Seat 141. He also assistant directed a new musical Here’s to Life alongside Paul Baker and Lucie Pankhurst at the National Portrait Gallery. TV: Matt has just finished filming the sitcom pilot Eltham Reality Boys as the larger than life Eltham John (Art House Yobs).

PETER WIEDMANN (Richard Greatham) Peter trained at Central School of Speech and Drama. Recent work includes a national tour of A Strange Wild Song with Rhum and Clay Theatre Company; Leaving Planet Earth with Grid Iron, commissioned for the Edinburgh International Festival; and Song of the City, a new play for voices at the Bussey Building. He has played as Orsino in Twelfth Night at The Minack, Cop/Carl Henry Carlson/Harry Britt in Execution of Justice at The , Earl Barton in Boxed and Bagged – which he co-created – at The Bush, Britannicus in Britannicus at the Roundhouse Studio, Bracciano in The White Devil, Leontes in The Winter’s Tale, Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Paris in Romeo and Juliet. He has toured extensively throughout Latin America with the Buenos Aires-based company, The Performers, and began his career doing outdoor theatre with The Tower Grove Players in Dario Fo’s One Was Nude and One Wore Tails, Federico García Lorca’s The Love of Don Perlimplín and Belisa in the Garden, and an original rock opera version of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata. He directed Cymbeline at and Much Ado About Nothing at the National Theatre of Uganda and has recently made his writing debut with Crude Prospects at VAULT Festival.

BRYAN HANDS (Director) Bryan made an early start in the business as a child actor on radio for the BBC. He won the Sir Kenneth Barnes scholarship to RADA and has worked as an actor, producer, director and writer ever since. He has worked in rep, in the West End and has toured in the UK and abroad. Favourite roles include Doc in Small Craft Warnings by Tennessee Williams, Frank in Educating Rita, Dad in Greek by Steven Berkoff, and Doctor Rance in What the Butler Saw by Joe Orton. He has played Hamm in Endgame by Samuel Beckett, Alonso in The Tempest, Peter Quince in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Ratty in The Wind in the Willows, Count Shabelsky in Ivanov, Captain Shotover in Heartbreak House and Antonio in Twelfth Night. He played Dr Seward in Mist After Dracula at Rosslyn Chapel and Kastel de Keverberg, the Netherlands, Sir Hugo Malinger in Daniel Derondo and the Bishop of Barchester in The Warden at Upstairs at the Gatehouse. He has directed and designed I’ll Leave It to You by Noel Coward, Charley’s Aunt, Chekov’s Cherry Orchard, Ghosts by Ibsen, Tartuffe by Moliere and recently designed and appeared in Much Ado About Nothing on tour. Last year he designed the set and played King Duncan in a tour of Macbeth for Traffic of the Stage Company. He has appeared in a number of films and TV commercials. JOHN COOPER (Producer ) Co-founder and Director of Traffic of the Stage, he has produced over 80 shows at theatre venues throughout the UK, and has pioneered interactive TIE shows in Secondary Schools, notably Shakespeare Live! and History of Theatre Live! He is keen to bring theatre to a wider spectrum of audience. His own plays include Notes from London’s Underground, Mating Behaviour, Mistress and Muse, The Pleasure Principle, 21st Century Faust, and The Education of a Lap Dancer. His latest play is a new science-fiction play Rendlesham based on the famous UFO sightings in 1980 in Rendlesham, Suffolk for which he received an award from The Peggy Ramsay Foundation.

GEORGE GALKIN (Lighting Designer/Technician) George graduated with a BSC in electronic engineering and informatics from Perm National Research Polytechnic University in Perm, Russia. He then moved to London to follow his passion in music. He studied and practiced music recording at SAE Institute, London. He has moved on to a career in the London fringe scene as a lighting and sound designer. His recent work has included Boris & Ingrid at Pleasance London by 2Theatre company, Rounds at Southwark Playhouse devised by Resuscitate Theatre, and Nick Brown's Boil at The Hen & Chickens Theatre. This is his first production with Logos Theatre Company.

EMILY MAXWELL (Stage-Manager) Emily has been working in theatre in both London and Ontario since 2013. Her recent work includes Comeback! The Karl Marx Musical (HandPlay Productions), The Vauxhall Fire Festival (Vauxhall Trust/), Legends of Rock and Roll, Canadian Legends, Twist and Shout (Drayton Entertainment), Game Show, Fiddler on the Roof (Stage West Mississauga). Emily wishes to thank Bryan, the incredible cast and crew, and her parents and brothers cheering her on “across the pond” in Canada. This is her first production with Logos Theatre Company.

ANDREW McROBB (Costume Designer) Andrew was resident costume designer for Playfare Productions, designing many shows, including The Venetian Twins, The Speckled Band and The Turn of the Screw. Designs for Traffic of the Stage include Andromache , Tartuffe ,The Warden , Much Ado about Nothing and Macbeth. For Logos Theatre Company he designed costumes for Candida, I’ll Leave It To You, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Nude with Violin.

THANKS TO: Jean Cooper, Pixelstardesign, Alan Sheldon, and Martina Connors, (Publicity representative) [email protected] LOGOS THEATRE COMPANY is a charitable theatre trust founded by the late Kenneth McClellan in 1969 to perform classic theatre faithful to the author’s intentions. Since its formation the company has produced many of the greatest works in the English language together with translation of some of Europe’s most prominent writers.

Trustees: Mark Casserley, Owen Hinchliffe, Tracey Russell, Roger Sansom. Patron: Ranjit Bolt O.B.E If you would like to go on our mailing list please contact us: [email protected]

TRAFFIC OF THE STAGE has produced over 70 plays at over 300 venues in the UK including King Lear, Macbeth, Much Ado about Nothing, Hamlet. She Stoops to Conquer, The Old Curiosity Shop, Dracula, David Copperfield , Sons and Lovers and The Education of a Lap Dancer. The company is also well-known for its perennial , interactive TIE touring show, Shakespeare Live! which as played to over 40,000 secondary school students during the last 10 years.

E-mail: [email protected] www.Trafficofthestage.com Tel: 020 8883 7817

HAY FEVER was first presented by Alban B Limpus at the Ambassadors Theatre, London on 8 June 1925 transferred to the , London, 7 September 1925

Hay Fever © NC Aventales AG, 1925 Copyright agent: Alan Brodie Representation Ltd www.alanbrodie.com Noël Coward Noel Coward was born in 1899 in Teddington, in south-west London. Attending a dance academy as a child, he made his professional stage debut at the age of twelve. Gaining experience as a juvenile player with touring companies, his ambitions turned to playwriting and in 1920 he achieved a measure of success with the comedy, I’ll leave it to You. But it was in 1924 that he began to make a name for himself with The Vortex, which was first staged at a small theatre in . The script had serious themes of drugs and sex, though some saw the drugs as a mask for Coward’s homosexuality. Following on the success of The Vortex came the comedies , Hay Fever and Fallen Angels. Hay Fever is now recognized as a quintessential English comedy which is ironic, as he based the play on an American family. Whilst in New York, Noel Coward spent a weekend with an actress, Laurette Taylor, and her husband, British playwright J. Hartley Manners, and her two grown children, a weekend that was the template for Hay Fever. There is no doubt that Judith Bliss is based on Laurette Taylor. In the first 1937 volume of his autobiography, Coward describes Laurette Taylor as ‘naïve, intolerant, lovable, and entirely devoid of tact . . . . 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, or unable to act an adverb or an historical personage with proper abandon.’ Initially regarded as ‘too light and plotless, and lacking in action’, the play is now praised for its wit, precision and originality. Hay Fever is pure comedy, an entirely theatrical romp which depends on highly stylised acting panache to pull it off. One could say that the play is designed to showcase the larger-than-life personalities of Coward’s bohemian milieu. Though the prolific Coward continued his success as a playwright with plays such as Private Lives (1929) Design for Living (1932) Cavalcade (1933) Present Laughter (1939) and Blithe Spirit (1941) to name the most popular, he is also remembered for the film adaptation of his one-act play, Brief Encounter (1945) and for his song-writing and acting accomplishments. Film buffs will know him for his portrayal of Mr Bridger, the criminal mastermind in The Italian Job. (1968) He received a knighthood in 1969 and died at his home in Jamaica in 1973. Since then his reputation has continued to grow. There is never a time when his plays are not being performed somewhere in the world. His popularity may have waned during the period of ‘kitchen sink drama’ but has recovered to the point where he is acknowledged as one of the greatest talents of the 20th century.”