The reviews are in for Hay Fever, Emily Burns’s revival of Noël Coward’s 1924 comedy, in which a family of incorrigible show-offs invite four guests for a country weekend and then make their lives a misery. The notices are respectable rather than rapturous, and the critics disagree most about the two names above the title: Richard E Grant is perfect casting for City AM and only okay for Time Out, while Christine Baranski’s English accent wins over WhatsOnStage and City AM but strikes The Guardian, theartsdesk and BroadwayWorld as getting in her way. Where they do agree is on the guests, with Charles Edwards, Nancy Carroll and Lucy Karczewski picked out time and again. Frankie Bradshaw’s drawing-room set wins most of them over too, though The Independent finds it sterile.
The verdict: ten reviews in so far — three four-star notices and five three-star, with The Telegraph and The Times behind paywalls. Among the eight we could read, the average is 3.4 out of 5. The critics part company over the two stars, but the visiting guests — Charles Edwards, Nancy Carroll and Lucy Karczewski — are praised almost everywhere.
What are critics saying about Hay Fever?
WhatsOnStage
“Christine Baranski and Richard E Grant offer up a light and delicious West End confection”
Reviewer: Sarah Crompton
“Each represents a type, but the economy of Coward’s writing gives each a distinct character, and the actors fill out the frame. As the suave diplomat Richard Gratham, Charles Edwards is wonderfully catatonic with embarrassment, picking at the furniture in distress, but constantly trying to find the polite thing to say, while Nancy Carroll as the socialite Myra Arundel is a polished whirlwind of sophisticated flirting and pent-up anger, furious that the rules of a game she is used to playing are being torn up.”
City AM
“Richard E Grant is perfect Coward fodder”
Reviewer: Adam Bloodworth
“Richard E Grant is obviously perfect for the feverishly privileged, short tempered David, who, like so many poshos, is magnetic to watch self-destruct. I could watch the actor play angry, bellowing, gesticulating toffs for literal years, even if Saltburn, Withnail & I and the countless other roles have tended to typecast him. Baranski grips equally, flipping in milliseconds between sensual and ballistic, drawing on her Mamma Mia film performance to produce a decent English accent (Maggie Smith premiered the part at the Old Vic in 1964, when the play become the National Theatre’s first production of a play by a living author).”
The Upcoming
Reviewer: Emilia Gould
“This staging has nothing particularly political to say, nor does it leave the audience with any moralistic takeaways; rather, Hay Fever feels like a dance of elongated vowels, pantomime-worthy gasps and sideways glances. The Bliss family, described by Myra (Nancy Carroll) as “superficial to the point of lunacy”, maintain their exaggerated demeanour throughout the play, leaving little room for any real depth. The first half of the show is dynamic and highly bouncy; however, the second half stalls and is slightly less digestible.”
The Guardian
“Richard E Grant and Christine Baranski host Coward’s country house shenanigans”
Reviewer: Emma John
“Will Close’s Simon swings from pretentious artiste – in paint-stained plus-fours and buttoned boots – to Tiggerish lover at the arrival of the experienced Myra (a statuesque Nancy Carroll). And even the seen-it-all-seductress is less in command than she thought as the games progress from after-dinner entertainments to more overtly saucy ones. Charles Edwards, meanwhile, maintains an endless gallantry as the visiting diplomat whose social skills are strained to the limit as he falls beneath Judith’s spell.”
The Independent
“Christine Baranski mumbles and Richard E Grant disappears in a half-amusing Noel Coward comedy”
Reviewer: Alice Saville
“Noel Coward delighted in overturning conventions, both theatrical and social. So perhaps he’d somewhat approve of the way that Emily Burns’s new production of his jaunty 1924 comedy Hay Fever upends the received wisdom that a show’s biggest stars should be the main draw. Christine Baranski mumbles her way through the central role of flamboyant actress Judith Bliss, while Richard E Grant fades unexpectedly into the scenery as her grumpy husband David. Instead, the biggest joy of the evening are this couple’s bewildered house guests, whose politeness imprisons them in an oh-so-genteel form of hell.”
Time Out
“A brilliant ensemble cast lift a trad production at Wyndham’s Theatre, though big name Grant is the weakest link”
Reviewer: Andrzej Lukowski
“And you know what: it’s very nearly good enough to style it all out on casting alone. Guesting American Christine Baranski brings a pleasingly doleful turn to reluctantly retired actress matriarch Judith Bliss, who must play hostess (of sorts) when each of the four Bliss family members invites a guest to stay without telling anybody else. Charles Edwards is beautifully hapless and well meaning as Richard, nominally invited as the guest of acidic daughter Sorrel (Ophelia Lovibond), but actually using it as a front for his designs on her mother (who has invited Ash Hunter’s wide-eyed Sandy down as her guest).”
theartsdesk
“Noel Coward’s 100-year-old comedy begins to show its age”
Reviewer: Helen Hawkins
“Is this enough for Judith Bliss, though? I found Baranski just a bit too well behaved for the role, but maybe director Emily Burns can coax her to go more OTT as the run goes on. She’s up against the sharpest of English actors in Nancy Carroll and Charles Edwards (as "diplomatist" Richard, pictured above with Carroll), both giving masterclasses in snappy articulation and less-is-more comedy. Lucy Karczewski, a standout in the West End Stereophonic, is also impressive as the winsome flapper Jackie, dim but adorable. Of the men, Will Close (barely recognisable as Dear England’s Harry Kane) is a plausible Simon, lazy and louche, while Richard E Grant is Richard E Grant, but a neat fit with the basically affable personality of David Bliss.”
BroadwayWorld
“A comfortable and comforting night at the theatre – just don’t expect fireworks”
Reviewer: Aliya Al-Hassan
“As Judith Bliss, Christine Baranski makes her West End debut as an actress playing a bad actress. Judith has very reluctantly retired from the stage, but is keen to bring theatrics into her life wherever possible. Baranski has a commanding presence, but her muddled accent of an odd mixture of RP and Atlantic twang impacts some of her delivery. But when she gets into her stride she leans into the acute and comedic melodrama of the role with gusto, sweeping from low imperious tones to much higher octaves.”
Production photographs by Marc Brenner.
Also reviewed by: The Telegraph (“Richard E Grant is great fun”) and The Times, whose reviews sit behind paywalls.
For more from this week’s press nights, see our roundups of The Standard of Living at the Theatre Royal Haymarket and Tru at the Menier Chocolate Factory.
Hay Fever is booking at Wyndham’s Theatre until Saturday 12 December 2026.
