Hay Fever reviews: what the critics say about Christine Baranski and Richard E. Grant

The reviews are in for Hay Fever at Wyndham’s Theatre, and the critics have plenty to say about it. Christine Baranski makes her West End debut as Judith Bliss in Noël Coward’s comedy of bad manners, opposite Richard E. Grant as her novelist husband David, in Emily Burns’s revival. Tickets on British Theatre are on sale for performances until 12 December 2026: see Hay Fever tickets.

After the official opening on 1 October, the verdicts landed between three and four stars, with plenty of debate about Baranski’s accent, Grant’s stage time and a supporting cast that nearly every critic singled out. Here is what they said.

The star ratings at a glance

• City AM, Adam Bloodworth: ★★★★
• London Theatre, Olivia Rook: ★★★★
• WhatsOnStage, Sarah Crompton: ★★★★
• The Independent, Alice Saville: ★★★
• The Standard, Nick Curtis: ★★★
• Time Out, Andrzej Lukowski: ★★★

The Stage’s Tom Wicker summed up the general mood in his headline, calling it “glossily amusing”, and described the show as “an amusing, if unadventurous revival”.

Christine Baranski’s West End debut

Judith Bliss, the retired actress who cannot stop performing, sits at the centre of the play, and Baranski’s take on her divided opinion more than anything else. Some of her warmest notices came from London Theatre, where Olivia Rook praised her “metatheatrical touches” and concluded: “We are in the palm of her hand.” WhatsOnStage’s Sarah Crompton said she “retains instinctive comic timing”, while City AM’s Adam Bloodworth felt Baranski “brings both heft and hilarity to the ludicrously delusional matriarch”. Time Out’s Andrzej Lukowski enjoyed “a pleasingly doleful turn”.

The sticking point for others was her decision to play Judith in an English accent. The Guardian’s Emma John wrote that “a technically sound RP oddly constrains her”, and Nick Curtis in The Standard described a “strangulated, transatlantic Received Pronunciation” that “doesn’t hurt Baranski’s comic timing” but is, in his words, “veeeery odd”. Dominic Cavendish in The Telegraph was blunter: “while Grant is great fun, Baranski is serviceable rather than sensational.” Alice Saville in The Independent went further, writing that Baranski “mumbles her way through the central role”.

Richard E. Grant returns to the London stage

Grant is back in the West End after around 20 years away, and most critics were glad to see him. City AM ran the headline “Richard E Grant is perfect Coward fodder”, with Bloodworth adding that “he is delicious as the delusional novelist”. The Guardian said he “brings his trademark shock-haired vigour” to David, and Dominic Cavendish in The Telegraph found him “in his element as the scatty patriarch”.

Curtis in The Standard wrote that Grant “hams it up no end. Which, again, sort of works.” Rook noted that his stage time is limited, but found it “great fun” to watch him and Baranski “go head to head over the breakfast table”.

Not everyone agreed. Lukowski in Time Out felt Grant “offers workmanlike support but no fireworks”, and The Independent wrote that he “fades unexpectedly into the scenery as her grumpy husband David”.

The guests steal the show

If there is a single point of agreement, it is that the guests at the Bliss household are a treat. In The Independent, Saville wrote that “the biggest joy of the evening are this couple’s bewildered house guests”.

Lucy Karczewski, as the painfully shy flapper Jackie, drew some of the best notices of all. Time Out called her performance “the evening’s best and most original” and said she is “shaping up as a star of the future”. The Standard found her “absolutely hilarious”.

Charles Edwards, as the diplomat Richard, was “beautifully hapless and well meaning” for Time Out. The Standard called Edwards and Nancy Carroll, as the socialite Myra, “faultless”. Ophelia Lovibond’s Sorel was “deliciously pert” for Curtis and, for the Guardian, “the most vital character”, while The Telegraph singled out Will Close as “the insouciant, artistic-minded son”.

Emily Burns’s staging and Frankie Bradshaw’s design

Critics broadly saw this as a traditional, handsome revival that sets out to entertain rather than reinvent. Rook called it “the definition of escapist fare”, and Lukowski described it as “glossy comfort theatre”. The Guardian admired Frankie Bradshaw’s “sumptuous set, with corniced ceilings”, and several reviewers noted a stronger second half: Emma John wrote that it suggests “there will be plenty of classic Coward to enjoy”.

Crompton in WhatsOnStage offered perhaps the neatest summary of all: “Meringues aren’t exactly filling, but they are fun to eat.”

Should you go?

Taken together, the reviews describe a polished, well-dressed evening of classic Coward with two famous names at its centre and a scene-stealing supporting cast around them. If you want a radical rethink, the critics suggest looking elsewhere. If you fancy an old-fashioned laugh, The Standard put it simply: “Sometimes, that’s all you need.”

Booking Hay Fever

Hay Fever plays at Wyndham’s Theatre until 12 December 2026. Evening performances are Monday to Saturday at 7.30pm, with matinees on Wednesday and Saturday at 2.30pm, and the running time is approximately two hours including an interval. A captioned performance is scheduled for 2.30pm on Saturday 31 October and an audio described performance for 7.30pm on Tuesday 3 November.

The nearest Underground station is Leicester Square, and Charing Cross is a short walk away. You can compare dates on the Hay Fever show page.

With a strictly limited run of less than ten weeks left, it is worth choosing your date soon. See Hay Fever dates and tickets.