Can Americans "Do" Noel Coward?

Ol' Dorothy here doesn't seem to think so.

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But the old bag has a point. I watched the Kevin Kline Present Laughter after watching Andrew Scott's raucous take on it and was struck by how much looser and more comfortable everyone seemed in the London production whereas the American actors seemed to be playing "British stiff upper lip" as an overriding concept and the whole thing curdled.

One of the best productions of a Noël Coward play I've ever seen was a Blithe Spirit at Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, with an entirely American cast.

Coward, like Barrie and WS Gilbert made their careers on either side of the Atlantic, maybe not at the start of their careers but eventually. They appealed to both British and American audiences and made their fortunes with both. I don’t think it’s a question of geographic culture and more one of time. Can audiences still appreciate and enjoy these drawing room comedies of bourgeois morality running up against erotic impulses.

Re: the current “Fallen Angels” revival. The accents are awful except for maybe Rose Byrne but the casting is excellent and the embodiment of character pretty much spot on across the board. I’d take the latter any day over perfect British accents with perfect attention to class distinctions of the period. I don’t think they even do that anymore in London.

Updated On: 4/16/26 at 03:32 PM

I'll also say the discussion of "Brits do accents better!" is silly. I've sat through many shows in London with TERRIBLE American accents. In fact they seem to either generally default to Newsies "New Yaaawkah" or this broad Gone with the Wind genteel southern even when the characters say they're from Colorado or wherever. I saw Good People in London and the Americans behind me were astonished when I said this takes place in Boston because Imelda and others were doing Barbra accents.

I've also heard plenty of Americans give terrible English accents so my point is it's pretty equal.

Hayfever is great! Wouldn’t work in the US. Doesn’t work in the UK.

Yazz said, "Hayfever is great! Wouldn’t work in the US. Doesn’t work in the UK."

There was a wonderful production of Hay Fever in 1985 directed by Brian Murray with a cast partly Brit, partly American including Rosemary Harris, Roy Dotrice, Barbara Bryne, Robert Joy, Charles Kimbrough, and Deborah Rush. All were wonderful, especially Rush and Bryne.

I have complete faith in Christine Baranski. 🥳

All that Yazz said: "Hayfever is great! Wouldn’t work in the US. Doesn’t work in the UK."

I saw Hay Fever decades ago, with Rosemary Harris in the lead. I still remember it with great fondness. IT would definitely work with the right case. No question.

TheOtherOne2 said: "nmartin said: "Yazz said, "Hayfever is great! Wouldn’t work in the US. Doesn’t work in the UK."

There was a wonderful production ofHay Feverin 1985 directed by Brian Murray with a cast partly Brit, partly American including Rosemary Harris, Roy Dotrice, Barbara Bryne, Robert Joy, Charles Kimbrough, and Deborah Rush. All were wonderful, especially Rush and Bryne."

I can still see Deborah Rush looking for her contact lens! This production was a joy.

With Coward I don't think the difficulty lies in whether one's sensibility is English or American. Many of his plays have darker undertones than his legendary bon-vivant public persona would lead one to expect, and often those tones are not even all that "under." Not everyone finds the balance.

But "Hay Fever" is a true comedic gem.

Deborah Rush looked for her contact lenses in Noises Off, not Hay Fever.. Contact lenses did not exist when Hay Fever was written.

Both productions were wonderful and I think Rush won a Tony for Noises Off. I do not even remember her in Hay Fever. Truth be told, I mainly remember Harris and Joy (and that I sat next to Jason Robards, who was laughing his head off at everything Harris said and did)..