Two screen legends head to the West End as Christine Baranski and Richard E. Grant take the lead in a sharp revival of Noël Coward’s Hay Fever, directed by Emily Burns for a strictly limited run at the Wyndham’s Theatre from 22 September 2026.
The Bliss family are exhausting company. Judith, a celebrated actress who has stepped away from the stage without losing her craving for an audience, presides over a country house full of equally self-absorbed relatives - the reclusive novelist David and their aimless grown-up children, Sorrel and Simon. To liven up a dull weekend, Judith invites an admirer to stay, never imagining that every other Bliss has quietly done exactly the same thing. Four unsuspecting visitors arrive at once, and the household turns their stay into a marathon of parlour games, cutting remarks and performances nobody asked to see.
Written in 1925 and still one of Coward’s most adored comedies, Hay Fever is a gleefully cruel portrait of a family who treat real life as one long dress rehearsal, and of the outsiders unlucky enough to wander into the show. Book your tickets now.
Why it’s worth the watch
A vintage Coward comedy fronted by two of the screen’s great scene-stealers.
- Star casting. Christine Baranski and Richard E. Grant bring decades of comic timing to the monstrous Bliss parents.
- Coward at his sharpest. The 1925 comedy trades in withering wit and impeccable bad manners rather than plot.
- A short West End run. The production plays a strictly limited season at the Wyndham’s Theatre.
- A director in demand. Emily Burns steers the ensemble farce of guests trapped in the Blisses’ orbit.
