Christine Baranski Will Make West End Debut in Noël Coward's Hay Fever

Tony winner and The Gilded Age star Christine Baranski will make her West End debut this fall in a new production of the Noël Coward comedy Hay Fever.

Directed by Emily Burns, performances will begin at the Wyndham's Theatre September 22 for a limited engagement through December 12. Opening night is scheduled for October 1.

Baranski (The Good Fight) will play Judith Bliss opposite Oscar nominee Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?), who is returning to the West End after more than two decades, as David Bliss. Additional casting will be announced at a later date.

In a statement stage and screen star Baranski said, “I attended my first West End play as a student at Juilliard in 1971, so it's rather a dream come true to perform at Wyndham’s Theatre in a Noël Coward play in the West End. I look forward to a life in London, a city I absolutely adore. I last performed on stage 20 years ago, and coincidentally, Richard E. Grant last performed in the West End 20 years ago! Richard is so gifted, whip smart, and wickedly funny. I look forward to 'tearing a passion to tatters' with him alongside our brilliant director, Emily Burns. Hay Fever is a 101-year-old comedy of appalling manners. It requires quicksilver delivery and suave flamboyance. I hope it will be a delicious treat for audiences to spend time with this Blissful Bohemian family!”

Grant added, “25 years ago, I guest starred for a night in The Play What I Wrote at the beautiful Wyndham’s Theatre. I am delighted to return to the Wyndham’s stage (and maybe to a bigger dressing room) alongside the sensational Christine Baranski in Noël Coward’s delicious comedy, Hay Fever, which premiered in the West End 101 years ago (but who’s counting?). I love the theatre and am thrilled to return to it, and to be directed by the illustrious Emily Burns.”

The comedy follows Judith, who retired from her life on stage a year earlier, but misses the applause. At their country home, the rest of the family—reclusive novelist husband David and failure-to-launch children Sorrel and Simon—are too self-involved to be a good audience. So, Judith invites a young fan as her guest. But unbeknownst to her, all of the Blisses have a guest of their own arriving at the very same time.

Baranski is an Emmy, two-time Tony, Screen Actors Guild, Drama Desk, and American Comedy Award winner. She can be seen as Agnes Van Rhijn in The Gilded Age, receiving a 2024 Emmy nomination for her performance in the series, which is currently in production on its fourth season. For her work as Diane Lockhart on The Good Wife, Baranski received six Emmy nominations; she subsequently starred in the spinoff, The Good Fight, which earned her four Critics’ Choice Television Award nominations, a Golden Globe nomination, and TCA Award nomination. Other memorable roles on screen include Mamma Mia!, Cybill, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Big Bang Theory, Frasier, Bowfinger, Cruel Intentions, The Birdcage, Into the Woods, and Chicago. Her stage career includes Tony-winning performances in The Real Thing and Rumors plus Hurlyburly, Boeing-Boeing, and The House of Blue Leaves.

Grant's additional films include Savage House, Ladies First, Nuremberg, Thursday Murder Club, Death of a Unicorn, The Lesson, Saltburn, Star Wars - Rise of Skywalker, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Logan, The Iron Lady, Gosford Park, Portrait of a Lady, Jack & Sarah, Dracula, The Age of Innocence, The Player, Pret a Porter, LA Story, Henry & June, How to Get Ahead in Advertising, and Withnail & I. He also wrote and directed Wah-Wah based on his childhood in Swaziland. His theatre credits include My Fair Lady for Sydney Opera/Chicago Opera), The Importance of Being Earnest at the Aldwych, The Play What I Wrote at Wyndham’s, Otherwise Engaged at the Criterion, A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, and Tramway Road at the Lyric Theatre.

Wessex Grove and Gavin Kalin Productions are producing.

Visit HayFeverPlay.com.