Hay Fever to be screened in cinemas by NT Live in January 2027

Hay Fever, the West End revival of Noël Coward’s comedy starring Christine Baranski and Richard E. Grant, is heading to the big screen. National Theatre Live will film Emily Burns’s production at Wyndham’s Theatre and release it in cinemas from 14 January 2027. The live run continues at Wyndham’s until 12 December 2026, so there is still time to see it on stage: Hay Fever tickets.

Filmed live from the West End

The screening was announced on 8 October, a week after the production’s official opening on 1 October. The National Theatre’s listing describes it as “filmed live from the West End”, and Hay Fever will join the National Theatre Live programme of stage productions shown in cinemas around the world.

National Theatre Live has not yet said which performance will be filmed, and cinema times and venues are set by individual cinemas. If you are hoping to watch on screen, it is worth checking your local cinema closer to the date.

When is Hay Fever in cinemas?

Hay Fever is in cinemas from 14 January 2027, through National Theatre Live. That date falls around a month after the final West End performance on 12 December 2026, so the screen version arrives after the stage run has closed.

Who is in the cast of Hay Fever?

Christine Baranski, the Emmy and two-time Tony winner known for The Good Wife, The Good Fight and The Gilded Age, makes her West End debut as Judith Bliss. Richard E. Grant, the Oscar nominee from Withnail and I and Can You Ever Forgive Me?, plays her husband, the novelist David Bliss, returning to the West End after more than two decades away.

They are joined by Nancy Carroll as Myra Arundel, Will Close as Simon Bliss, Charles Edwards as Richard Greatham, Ophelia Lovibond as Sorel Bliss, Ash Hunter as Sandy Tyrell, Lucy Karczewski as Jackie Coryton and Jo McInnes as Clara, with Helena Antoniou, Charlotte Avery and Shaun Mendum.

What is Hay Fever about?

Written in the 1920s, Hay Fever follows Judith Bliss, a celebrated actress who has stepped away from the stage and badly misses the applause. At the family’s country home, her husband and their grown children Simon and Sorel are too wrapped up in themselves to give her the attention she craves. So Judith invites a young admirer down for the weekend, without realising that every other member of the family has invited a guest of their own.

What follows is a comedy of very bad manners, as the visitors are dragged into parlour games, sudden romances and staged rows. Emily Burns directs, with set and costume design by Frankie Bradshaw, lighting by Oliver Fenwick and sound by Tingying Dong.

What did the critics think?

The reviews landed between three and four stars, with critics praising a polished, traditional staging and a supporting cast full of scene stealers, while debating Baranski’s accent and Grant’s stage time. Read the full verdicts in our Hay Fever reviews roundup.

See it live before 12 December

A cinema screening is a fine way to catch the show, but nothing quite matches being in the room for Coward’s quickfire comedy, with Baranski and Grant sparring a few feet away. Hay Fever is a limited run at Wyndham’s Theatre on Charing Cross Road, close to Leicester Square station, and it ends on 12 December 2026. See Hay Fever dates and tickets.