Christine Baranski makes her West End debut opposite Richard E. Grant in Noël Coward’s Hay Fever this autumn. Here is everything you need to know before you book.
Noël Coward wrote Hay Fever in 1925, reportedly in three days, and a century on it is back in the West End for a strictly limited twelve-week season. This revival has drawn attention for one reason above all: it brings Christine Baranski to a London stage for the first time. Here is what the production is, who is in it, and when you can see it.
Who is starring in Hay Fever?
Christine Baranski — long familiar from screen work but never before seen in the West End — plays Judith Bliss, the retired actress at the centre of the chaos. Opposite her, Richard E. Grant is her husband David, a novelist who would rather be left alone with his manuscript.
The rest of the Bliss household is Ophelia Lovibond as daughter Sorel and Will Close as son Simon. Their weekend guests are Nancy Carroll as Myra Arundel, Charles Edwards as Richard Greatham, Ash Hunter as Sandy Tyrell and Lucy Karczewski as Jackie Coryton, with Jo McInnes as the housekeeper Clara. The company is completed by Helena Antoniou, Charlotte Avery and Shaun Mendum.
What is Hay Fever about?
A year after leaving the stage, Judith Bliss is bored, and boredom in this household is dangerous. She invites a young admirer down to the family’s country house for the weekend — without mentioning it to anyone. Her husband, her son and her daughter have each done exactly the same thing.
Four guests therefore arrive expecting a quiet couple of days, and instead find themselves conscripted into parlour games, pointed remarks and rather more performance than any of them bargained for. The production is billed as “a comedy of appalling manners”, and the show’s own line sets the tone: “Last year, Judith retired from her life-on-stage. Already, she misses the applause.”
Who is behind the production?
Emily Burns, whose Jack Absolute Flies Again played the National Theatre, directs. Set and costume design are by Frankie Bradshaw, with lighting by Oliver Fenwick and sound by Tingying Dong. Bethan Clark is fight and intimacy director, Danièle Lydon dialect coach and Blythe Stewart associate director, with casting by Jim Carnahan CSA and Liz Fraser CSA. The revival is produced by Wessex Grove and Gavin Kalin Productions.
When and where can I see it?
Hay Fever runs at the Wyndham’s Theatre on Charing Cross Road from 22 September to 12 December 2026, with press night on 1 October. Running time is around 2 hours 20 minutes including one interval, and tickets currently start at £36.
Two access performances are scheduled: a captioned performance on 31 October at 2.30pm, and an audio-described performance on 3 November at 7.30pm.
What else should I book if I like it?
If a sharp-tongued house party is your idea of an evening out, the West End has plenty more straight plays running alongside it. The Seagull offers another set of guests behaving badly in a country house, while The Play That Goes Wrong takes the drawing-room comedy and demolishes it nightly. For something with a body in the library, The Mousetrap and Witness for the Prosecution are both still going strong.