U.S. actress Christine Baranski will make her West End debut alongside Richard E. Grant in a new production of Noël Coward’s Hay Fever.
The family comedy, directed by Emily Burns, also marks Saltburn star Grant’s return to the West End stage after 20 years. It’ll run at the Wyndham Theatre from September to December this year, with two-time Tony winner Baranski playing Judith Bliss and Grant as David Bliss.
“Last year, Judith retired from her life on stage. Already, she misses the applause,” reads a plot synopsis. “Idling away 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 for the weekend. But unbeknownst to her, each of the Blisses have a guest of their own arriving at the very same time. Completely unsuited to hosting and allergic to compromise, the house quickly erupts into a chaos of parlor games, put-downs, and unrequested encores.”
Baranski, best known for recent roles in The Gilded Age and The Good Wife, said about making her debut on London’s theater scene: “I attended my first West End play as a student at Juilliard in 1971, so it’s rather a dream come true.” She said that she’s looking forward to a life in London — “a city I absolutely adore” — and described her co-star as “so gifted, whip smart and wickedly funny.”
“I last performed on stage 20 years ago,” she continued, “and coincidentally, Richard E. Grant last performed in the West End 20 years ago! … [Hay Fever] requires quicksilver delivery and suave flamboyance. I hope it will be a delicious treat for audiences to spend time with this Bliss-ful Bohemian family!”
Grant added that he guest-starred for a night in The Play What I Wrote at the Wyndham 25 years ago and was delighted to return with “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?).”
The Withnail & I star said he’d also be looking forward to “maybe a bigger dressing room.” He added: “I love the theatre and am thrilled to return to it, and to be directed by the illustrious Emily Burns.”
Further casting and creative team members are to be unveiled later. The last staging of Hay Fever in London was at the Noël Coward Theatre in 2012, boasting Lindsay Duncan, Kevin R McNally, and a still-unknown Phoebe Waller-Bridge playing their daughter.