First-look promotional images and video footage have been released today for the highly anticipated new West End production of Noël Coward’s irresistible comedy Hay Fever. Starring Emmy and Tony Award winner Christine Baranski alongside Oscar nominee Richard E. Grant, the production is scheduled to play a strictly limited autumn season at London’s Wyndham’s Theatre from September 22 to December 12, 2026, with an official press night set for October 1.
The prestigious staging marks a major theatrical milestone, serving as Baranski’s official West End debut and welcoming Grant back to the West End stage for the first time in 20 years. Directed by Emily Burns, Coward’s satirical masterpiece remains one of British theatre's most enduring and hilarious examinations of family dysfunction and theatrical vanity.
The plot follows the eccentric Bliss family at their Berkshire country house. Having retired from her glamorous life on the stage just last year, matriarch Judith Bliss is already deeply missing the applause. Unfortunately for her, the rest of her family—reclusive novelist husband David and their failure-to-launch adult children, Sorrel and Simon—are far too self-involved to provide the adoring audience she craves. Seeking a distraction, Judith secretly invites an enthusiastic young fan to be her personal guest for the weekend.
Unbeknownst to her, however, every other member of the Bliss clan has independently invited a romantic guest of their own to arrive at the exact same time. Completely unsuited to the demands of hosting and fundamentally allergic to compromise, the family quickly subjects their unsuspecting visitors to a chaotic gauntlet of intense parlor games, biting put-downs, and unrequested melodrama. As the weekend unravels, the guests find themselves trapped in a theatrical nightmare where the lines between reality and performance are entirely blurred.
Presented by Delfont Mackintosh Theatres, this star-studded revival combines world-class comedic talent to breathe fresh energy into Coward's classic text. Tickets are currently on sale below.
Photo credit: Oliver Rosser
