To call a play by Noel Coward full of sparkling wit and outrageous characters is probably cliche. Witty characters are his stock in trade, and “Hay Fever” does not disappoint in those respects. Produced this week by University Theatre, directed by Jack Wright, “Hay Fever” is as full of “Coward-ishness” as one could want. The snappy script is enhanced by some dashed good performances, a beautiful set and stunning costumes that land us smack dab in the middle of the 1925 county home of the bohemian couple Judith and David Bliss.

Wright has allowed his actors to grow into fairly credible representations of some of the most annoying people on the planet who charm the socks off you at the same time. The Blisses – Judith and David (Leslie Bennett and John Staniunas) – and their children – Sorel and Simon (Kate Giessel and Justin Knudsen) – are a family prone to emotional extremes. Former actress Judith can’t quite figure out when to leave the stage; David is a writer of horrendously pulpy novels, and his attachment to the real world is sometimes as tenuous as his wife’s. Their children have various pursuits that alter with their quixotic moods, but everything generally has one requirement: It must be fun.

Each of the family members invites a guest to the house for the weekend, most of them a potentially illicit romance for one family member or another. These poor people find themselves drawn into the Blisses’ bizarre reality and caught up in the one-upmanship wars that characterize almost every family interaction.

Faculty artists Bennett and Staniunas have caught the magic of the Blisses’ relationship. Staniunas has the vaguely enthusiastic character of David Bliss right down to his toes, and Bennett is stunning at conveying Judith’s brittle insouciance; her world is the stage, and where she can create a performance, she will do so. Clothed in varying outfits of purple and gold, she reigns supreme in the Bliss home, subtly and sometimes not so subtly bending others to her will.

Giessel and Knudsen are clearly having as much fun as their fun-loving characters. Knudsen’s Simon is a light-hearted jokester who paints really bad caricatures, and Giessel’s Sorrel is a young tiger, whose sharp tongue and quick temper are her weapons.

Houseguests Mark Mackie, Erik LaPointe, Alicia Gian and Courtney Schweitzer have each focused and developed wonderful characters that could be lost in one-dimensionality against the overwhelming presence of the Blisses. Their initial awe at being invited into the Bliss sanctum turns to a feverish desire to get out at all costs. Even house servant Clara (Chelsie Shipley) is affected by the general atmosphere of lunacy.

Kelly Vogel’s scenic design for the Bliss house is simply breathtaking, and costume designer Ione Unruh has let her imagination play with the possibilities of color and texture in the brilliant costumes.

Wright has captured the essence of Coward in this play – his sense of fun with just a hint of reproach. No serious biting satire here, just a group of fantastically beautiful people living a Bliss-fully beautiful life.