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‘I’m thrilled and flattered and frankly a little flabbergasted that
the National Theatre should have had the curious perceptiveness to choose a very
early play of mine, and to give it a cast that could play the Albanian telephone
directory.’ --Noël Coward, on
arriving at the Old Vic to begin rehearsals for ‘Hay Fever,’ September 1964
Noël Coward was born in Teddington, Middlesex, on December 16, 1899. He was seven years old when he made his debut before an
audience; in a school concert he sang a song called ‘Time to Rise’ at the
piano, and graciously consented to give an encore.
His first professional appearance was at the age of eleven, when he
appeared as Prince Mussel in a children’s play entitled ‘The Goldfish.’
Later on he was Slightly in ‘Peter Pan,’ and (as somebody once
remarked) you might say that he has been wholly in ‘Peter Pan’ ever
since—preserving in middle age the staccato energies of youth.
In 1933 Coward summed up his feelings about the play in the introduction
to Volume I of ‘Play Parade’:
Hayfever is considered by many to be my best comedy.
Whether or not this assertion is true, posterity, if it gives it a
glance, will be able to judge with more detachment than I..
At any rate it has certainly proved to be a great joy to amateurs, owing,
I suppose, to the smallness of its cast, and the fact that it has only one set,
which must lead them, poor dears, to imagine that it is easy to act. This
species of delusion being common to amateurs all over the world, no word of mine
shall be spoken, no warning finger of experience raised, to discourage them,
beyond the timorous suggestion that from the professional standpoint Hay
Fever is far and away one of the most difficult plays to perform that I have
ever encountered . . . I am very much attached to Hay Fever. I enjoyed writing it and producing it, and I have
frequently enjoyed watching it.’
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