When Sue Power opens this week in the Bermuda Musical & Dramatic Society's (BMDS) production of the Noel Coward comedy, 'Hay Fever', it will mark a bittersweet milestone in her life. After 26 years of active involvement in local theatre, she is giving her final performance before returning to Cornwall, England to be near her ageing parents.

The move is not a decision she took lightly, and she frankly admits she has mixed feelings about leaving the Island she has grown to love so much.

"I have always felt Bermuda was my home," Mrs. Power says. "I have adored the theatre and been involved with the BMDS for many years.

"I don't think you can match the camaraderie you get from doing a production. There has to be a tremendous amount of trust in your fellow actors and actresses on stage with you, and that produces the camaraderie."

Which is why, despite all the trauma of moving, the amateur actress couldn't resist one final swansong at Daylesford Theatre.

"Although the play is quite close to my departure date, when I heard Jane McCullough was coming to direct a Noel Coward play I thought I would really love to audition and get a part."

In fact, Mrs. Power landed the lead role of Judith, which requires her to be a wife, mother and retired actress for whom all the world is literally a stage. She is seen throughout the play, but relishes the challenge.

"There is nothing quite like the thrill of being on stage," she says. "My role is almost a double thrill because you are doing it twice. You are not only playing yourself but a character. It means you use total free rein in whatever you do, which is probably the most wonderful thing an actress can do. You just allow yourself to go."

Indeed, she has been positively encouraged to do so, since her role requires her to be the ultimate "drama queen."

"The director always says to me, 'Over the top can't be enough'."

Playing opposite Mrs. Power as her "husband" is Richard Dymond, who is making his fourth local stage appearance in six months, but his first as the leading man.

The trade mark officer at the Registry General by day, he brings to Bermuda years of experience as an amateur actor and singer in many styles of theatre, principally in his native Wales.

Although this is his first role in a Coward play, he is no stranger to the author's works, and lists as one of his fondest memories the time when he played 'The Master,' as Coward is known to many thespians, in an Edinburgh Fringe Festival production entitled, 'The Late Noel.'

Another is his many performances at the famous Minack Theatre, which is set in the cliffs of Land's End in Cornwall - a stage to which Mrs. Power also aspires. Mr. Dymond's role in 'Hay Fever' requires him to spend a great deal of time out of sight "writing" novels, but when he appears he is rather distracted, but loves to "examine" the people who frequent his home.

"The play is set in a family home, whose members are very Bohemian. Each member has invited a guest down for the weekend unknown to each other," he says. "They are all terribly upset and selfish, and each decides to snub the other guests apart from the one they invited. The family ignores the guests and leaves them to their own devices because that is just the way they are. The play is about the way the family interacts among themselves, the way they don't interact with the guests, and the way the guests interact with each other. Although the play is set in 1925, all of the characters are very well defined and immediately recognisable."

"It is a comedy and very Coward. The author said it should never be acted by amateurs, which is somewhat disconcerting, but thankfully we have Jane, who really knows what she is doing," Mrs. Power adds. "Coward is very difficult because the script is rapid repart?e, so we have to deliver it spot-on but still with clarity, and some of the sentences are written in a very convoluted way."

Both describe the final scene as "absolutely hysterical."

"As Richard comes down the stairs he is reading the final chapter of his latest book, 'The Sinful Woman,' and I think he realises he is not a very good writer, and then there is an argument which is really, really funny," Mrs. Power says.

The duo have high praise for the work Dr. Barbara Jones has done on designing costumes for the cast. "They are absolutely wonderful, and she has done an amazing job to ensure that everything is in keeping with the period in which the play is set."

Part proceeds from the sale of opening night tickets will go towards the newly formed BMDS Charitable Trust, organised to encourage and develop the theatrical arts in Bermuda.

4"Hay Fever" will be performed at Daylesford Theatre to September 8 but not September 2 and 3. Performances begin at 8 p.m. Opening night benefit tickets are $40, all others are $15.

Theatre box office dates and times are as follows: Today: 5.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. August 28-September 8: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. For telephone/credit card bookings on these dates call 282-0848.