Noel Coward would have turned in his grave if he had watched Hay Fever at the Theatre Royal Brighton last week.

Stephanie Beacham's performance was the worst piece of overacting I've seen in years.

Trying unsuccessfully to copy Judi Dench's delightfully amusing portrayal of the ageing Judith Bliss, she resorted to rolling eyeballs, facial grimaces, voices ranging from sultry to squeaky and so much arm waving she resembled a windmill.

It was singularly unfunny and bordered on the pathetic.

Christopher Timothy, more at home on the medical scene, shambled about uncomfortably in his role of the longsuffering husband, not helped by what appeared to be a flattened guinea pig stuck on his head, perhaps a failed attempt to make sense of the line "David has retained his youthful good looks".

On his first entry a titter went round the audience and I spent the evening waiting for his hilarious hairpiece to fall off.

The rest of the cast were superb, perfectly in character and highly amusing. A pity they were let down by their supposed "superiors".

  • Beryl Fleming, Cissbury Gardens, Findon Valley, Worthing