West End actors are set to take part in the longest outdoor theatre run in the New Forest.
A three-week production of Noel Coward's comedy Hay Fever will feature leading performers who have appeared in TV hits such as The Crown and Coronation Street.
Hay Fever will be staged at Furzey Gardens in Minstead next month by the London Touring Players.
Written in 1920s, the play is set in an English country house and features four eccentric members of the Bliss family. They each invite a guest for the weekend, but their bizarre behaviour forces the visitors to flee.
A London Touring Players spokesperson said: "Hay Fever is one of the most famous plays in the English language, packed with unforgettable characters and dripping with wit.
"The beauty of Furzey Gardens promises to chime with the elegance of Cowards’s world.
"The action is punctuated by beloved and famous songs such as “Don’t Put Your Daughter On The Stage, Mrs Worthington, and Mad Dogs and Englishmen."
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Cast members include London-based actress Kate Cook, who has appeared in The Crown, Coronation Street, and Call the Midwife.
Kate is following in the footsteps of actresses such as Edith Evans, Judie Dench, and Felicity Kendal by playing Judith Bliss.
She said: "Having performed at Furzey Gardens as Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, I'm very excited to be performing once again for the fantastic audiences of the New Forest."
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Tracey Ann Wood, who plays Jackie Coryton, added: "This is my seventh production with London Touring Players.
"Previous productions include Twelfth Night, The Snow Queen, The Importance of Being Earnest, A Christmas Carol, Romeo and Juliet, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Performing at Furzey Gardens brings the outstanding beauty of nature and art together and I love it.”
Fellow cast members include Jim Kitson and Pamela Merrick, who have appeared at The Globe and the National Theatre respectively.
The director, New Forest resident Abbey Wright, trained with Danny Boyle and Alan Rickman and recently co-wrote a new musical for the National Theatre.
London Touring Players are making a welcome return to the Forest.
Last summer they presented Twelfth Night, having previously entertained audiences with A Comedy of Errors and The Importance of Being Earnest, all at Furzey Gardens.
They also staged A Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo and Juliet at the Countryside Education Trust, plus A Christmas Carol against the backdrop of Beaulieu Abbey ruins.
Hay Fever opens on August 3. To book tickets visit https://furzeygardens.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/1173653844
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