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''Hay Fever'' is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1924 and first produced in 1925 with Marie Tempest as the first Judith Bliss. Best described as a cross between high farce and a comedy of manners, the play is set in an English country house in the 1920s, and deals with the four eccentric members of the Bliss family and their outlandish behaviour when they each invite a guest to spend the weekend. The self-centred behaviour of the hosts finally drives their guests to flee while the Blisses are so engaged in a family row that they do not notice their guests' furtive departure.〔(New York Times )〕 Some writers have seen elements of Mrs Astley Cooper〔Evangeline Julia Marshall, eccentric society hostess (1854–1944), married Clement Paston Astley Cooper, grandson of Sir Astley Paston Cooper, on 10 July 1877. She inherited Hambleton Hall from her brother Walter Marshall on his death in 1899, and there she entertained rising talents in the artistic world, including the painter Philip Streatfeild, the conductor Malcolm Sargent and the writer Charles Scott Moncrieff, as well as the young Coward. See (''Guardian'', 19 April 2006 ), (The Peerage ), and (Victorian Hotel History )〕 and her set in the characters of the Bliss family.〔Hoare, Philip. ("Coward, Sir Noël Peirce (1899–1973)", ) ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, January 2008, accessed 30 December 2008〕 Coward said that the actress Laurette Taylor was the main model.〔Coward (''Present Indicative''), p. 126〕 Coward introduces one of his signature theatrical devices at the end of the play, where the four guests tiptoe out as the curtain falls, leaving disorder behind them – a device that he also used in various forms in ''Present Laughter'', ''Private Lives'' and ''Blithe Spirit.'' ==History== In 1921, Coward first visited New York City, hoping that American producers would embrace his plays. During that summer, he befriended the playwright Hartley Manners and his wife, the eccentric actress Laurette Taylor. Their "over-the-top theatrical lifestyle" later inspired him in writing ''Hay Fever''.〔Kenrick, John. ("Noel Coward – Biographical Sketch" ), Coward 101 at ''Musicals 101: The Cyber Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre, TV and Film'', 2000, accessed on 9 March 2009〕 Coward wrote the play in three days in 1924, intending the lead role of Judith Bliss for the actress Marie Tempest, "whom I revered and adored".〔Coward, p. vii〕 Though she found it amusing, she thought it not substantial enough for a whole evening, but changed her mind after the success of Coward's ''The Vortex'' later in 1924. ''Hay Fever'' opened at the Ambassadors Theatre on 8 June 1925 and transferred to the larger Criterion Theatre on 7 September 1925 and ran for 337 performances.〔Gaye, p. 1554〕〔Coward, p. viii〕 Coward remembered in 1964 that the notices "were amiable and well-disposed although far from effusive. It was noted, as indeed it has been today, that the play had no plot and that there were few if any 'witty' lines."〔Coward, pp. viii and ix〕 It opened the same year at the Maxine Elliott Theatre in New York, where it ran for 49 performances. The original casts in London and New York were as follows: *Sorel Bliss – Helen Spencer; Frieda Inescort *Simon Bliss – Robert Andrews; Gavin Muir *Clara – Minnie Rayner; Alice Belmore Cliffe *Judith Bliss – Marie Tempest; Laura Hope Crews *David Bliss – W Graham Browne; Harry Davenport *Richard Greatham – Athole Stewart; George Thorpe *Sandy Tyrell – Patrick Susands; Reginald Sheffield *Myra Arundel – Hilda Moore; Phyllis Joyce *Jackie Coryton – Ann Trevor; Margot Lester 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hay Fever (play)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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