“Hay Fever:” Oct. 27-30, Nov. 4-6. Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m., Providence Playhouse (1256 Providence Rd, Scranton). $12/GA, $10/seniors, $8/students. Special rate Oct. 27, $8/GA & seniors, $6/students. Info: 570.342.9707.
There are plays that translate beautifully to adaptations, sometimes turning out better than the original version, and there are plays that simply stand the test of time as is. According to Paul Winarski, director of the upcoming Actors Circle production of Noel Coward’s “Hay Fever,” the comedy falls into the latter category.
“(It is) very hard to update something like Coward,” he explained. “Whereas with Shakespeare, you’re able to add different situations on, putting it in different time periods. With Coward, like Oscar Wilde or Tennessee Williams, it plays best when set when the author intended.”
“Hay Fever” was written by Coward in 1924 and is set in a country home in England, following four members of the eccentric Bliss family and their respective guests. The family’s bickering and self-absorbed actions cause the guests to leave, unbeknownst to the family. The Actors Circle production of the piece will be presented Oct. 27-30 and Nov. 4-6 at Providence Playhouse in Scranton.
Winarski is a self-described aficionado of Coward’s works, and having previously directed this particular piece in the late ’90s, he holds it in high regard.
“Coward’s works, especially ‘Hay Fever,’ are filled with biting humor and social commentary,” he said. “It’s really a delightful play, and most critics consider it, of his canon, one of the best. Probably, they actually do consider it his masterpiece.”
The play focuses more on the theatricality of the characters than the plot, using their over-the-top personalities as a vehicle for carrying the show.
“I think when you’re dealing with a play that is not plot driven but more character driven, it’s more essential to get out what people mean when they say it as opposed to what’s happening in the plot, if that makes sense,” Winarski said.
Winarski’s wife, Dawn, who portrays one of the guests, agreed that the personalities are exaggerated.
“Usually they’re always saying be as realistic as possible,” she said. “And although (the play) is still grounded in that, everybody’s quirks are heightened a bit.”
That element, combined with the style of humor Coward employed in his original script, adds an extra layer of complexity to putting on the production.
“Henry Irving said, ‘Dying is easy, comedy is hard,’ and British comedy, definitely so,” Paul Winarski said. “It’s all in the timing. It’s pace, it’s rhythm. It’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it.”
But he noted that the payoff was worth the extra work.
“The nice thing about doing this show now, every decade or so Noel Coward becomes front and center again in theater circles,” he explained. “In 1999, it was his 100th birthday, so they dedicated a theater to him in London, unveiled a statue in New York. And since then, at least every five years, a play of his has been mounted in New York, on Broadway, consistently.
“They’re reviving ‘Private Lives’ next … So it’s nice to know that we in Northeastern Pennsylvania are still on the same theatrical pulse as New York and London.”
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