Learn about Richard E. Grant's stage credits ahead of 'Hay Fever'

The debonair actor and star of Withnail and I and Can You Ever Forgive Me? returns to the West End this autumn in a revival of Noël Coward's Hay Fever.

Summary

• Richard E. Grant began his career in South Africa
• He moved to London in 1982 and broke through with Withnail and I in 1987
• He has performed in the West End on several occasions
• Grant stars in a revival of Noël Coward's Hay Fever this autumn opposite Christine Baranski

Born in Swaziland (a British high commission territory until 1968 now known as Eswatini) in 1957, Richard E. Grant (born Richard Grant Esterhuysen) was the son of a British government official. He has talked about how he grew up speaking an old-fashioned, colonial style of English, which helps to explain why he is so at home in patrician roles, often in classy supporting turns. He studied English and Drama at the University of Cape Town and moved to Britain in 1982.

Grant rose to prominence in the cult classic Withnail and I in 1989, playing Withnail. His other film roles include Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Keep the Aspidistra Flying, Jack and Sarah, Spice World, Gosford Park, Penelope, The Iron Lady, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. He was nominated for an Oscar and a BAFTA for his performance in the literary forgery drama Can You Ever Forgive Me? opposite Melissa McCarthy.

On television, Grant played the title character in The Scarlet Pimpernel; he has had numerous roles in Doctor Who, and he has also appeared in Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, and A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Grant's recent films include Saltburn, The Thursday Afternoon Murder Club, Nuremberg, and Savage House. He was also Mr Bennet in the BBC’s The Other Bennet Sister. This autumn, he will be part of what’s probably the starriest cast ever assembled for a reality show with The Celebrity Traitors (which will be filmed this summer).

Grant also returns to the stage this autumn after a lengthy hiatus (there’s never a time when he isn’t in demand on screen!) to star opposite Broadway luminary Christine Baranski in a revival of Noël Coward’s Hay Fever. Find out more about his stage credits to date in the meantime.

Book Hay Fever tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Space Theatre (Cape Town)

Grant began his career at the Space Theatre, a fringe venue in Cape Town. Founded by husband-and-wife team Brian Astbury and Yvonne Bryceland, the company was defiantly anti-apartheid.

Stardust

Grant made his first known UK stage appearance as young David in Stardust by Ted Willis (creator of the police procedural series Dixon of Dock Green), which toured in 1983. The play was a vehicle for Googie Withers, who had been a major British film star of the 1940s and ‘50s, and her husband John McCallum (who played the older version of Grant’s character).

A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Merry Wives of Windsor

In 1984, Grant appeared at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre for a summer of Shakespeare comedies, portraying two young men in love: Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Fenton in The Merry Wives of Windsor. The company also included the late Natasha Richardson as Helena in Dream and Hammer Horror and future Dynasty star Kate O’Mara as Mistress Page in Merry Wives.

Tramway Road

Later in the same year, Grant performed at the Lyric Hammersmith in Ronald Harwood’s play Tramway Road. The play was set in South Africa in 1951, the year after the Population Registration Act was passed, which required each citizen to be officially registered as a member of a specific racial group and to carry identity cards. Grant played Emil, an aspiring actor with dreams of moving to London, and Annette Crosbie and Freddie Jones (father of Toby) portrayed an expat English couple.

The Importance of Being Earnest

After rising to prominence in Withnail and I in 1987, Grant returned to the stage in 1993 in the plum role of Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest directed by Nicholas Hytner and co-starring Alex Jennings (Jack), Susannah Harker (Cecily), and Claire Skinner (Gwendolen). Maggie Smith was Lady Bracknell. Smith was unhappy with the production and when asked if there were plans for it to transfer to Broadway, responded that she wouldn’t take it to Woking. Nevertheless, audiences thoroughly enjoyed it and the staging emphasised the queer subtext between Algernon and Jack.

Otherwise Engaged

Grant’s next stage role came over a decade later in Simon Gray’s Otherwise Engaged at the Criterion Theatre in 2006. Grant played Simon Hench, an outwardly jovial publisher, and the production was directed by Simon Curtis and designed by Simon Higlett (that’s a lot of Simons!). The cast also included the late Anthony Head, Amanda Drew, and David Bamber.

God of Carnage

In 2008, Grant hosted the Olivier Awards and the following year, he returned to live performance in Yasmina Reza’s The God of Carnage at Theatre Royal Bath. Matthew Warchus's production of the sour comedy about two sets of parents who are much more badly behaved than their quarrelling children also starred Roger Allam, Lia Williams, and Serena Evans.

My Fair Lady

Grant has twice played the snobbish phonetics expert Professor Henry Higgins in Lerner and Loewe's evergreen musical My Fair Lady. The first occasion was for Opera Australia in Sydney in 2008 and the second was at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2017. Wouldn’t it be loverly to see him play Higgins in this country!

Hay Fever

Grant returns to the West End after two decades this autumn in a revival of Noël Coward’s comedy Hay Fever (you can't get much more cut-glass than that!), directed by Emily Burns (Dear Octopus, Measure for Measure). Grant plays David Bliss, a novelist and consort of retired actress Judith, played by Broadway’s Christine Baranski in her West End debut. Grant is known for his lengthy hiatuses between stage roles, so you won't want to miss out on this opportunity to see him in person!

Says Grant: “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.”

Book Hay Fever tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Photo credit: Christine Baranski and Richard E. Grant. (Photos by Emilio Madrid and Pip Seed).