Richard E. Grant stars as a vain novelist in the West End revival of Noël Coward's "Hay Fever" at the Wyndham's theatre in London. Grant brings energy to the role of a man forced to welcome his bohemian children's surprise guests. Christine Baranski plays Judith Bliss, a retired stage diva now working as a country hostess.
The play, which premiered on the West End in 1925, was initially dismissed by British critics despite finding it amusing. They noted its lack of plot. The first Broadway production flopped. A Vogue critic called it "funny in places," a description that reflects the early mixed reception.
A century of stagings have since established the play's lasting appeal. The comedy's effect relies less on the written dialogue than on how actors deliver it. The play concerns a family described as "artificial to the point of lunacy." Judith, her husband, and their self-consciously bohemian children Sorel and Simon all invite surprise guests for the weekend simultaneously. The guests find themselves caught in a self-serving family drama marked by social embarrassment.
The production marks a revival of one of Coward's best-known and most-performed works.